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1 



History of South Africa 



and the 



Boer = British War. 

Blood and Gold in Africa. 

he Matchless Drama of the Dark Conti- 
nent from Pharaoh to ''Oom Paul/' 



The Transvaal War and the Final Struggle between 
Briton and Boer over the Gold of Ophir. 



A Story of Thrilling Romance and Adventure among 

Wild Beasts and Wilder Men, in Search 

of Sport and Qems and Gold. 



Profusely and Superbly Illustrated with Photographs, Sketches and Maps from 

Official Sources. 



Written and Edited by / 

Henry Houghton Beck, 

Author of "Famous Battles," "The Greco- 
Turkish War," "Cuba's Fight for Freedom 
and the War with Spain," etc., etc. 



Published by 

GLOBE BIBLE PUBLISHING CO., 

723 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa- 



^f«CU Of thy 

fK *> ^ 190Q 

"«^'«t«r Of CopyHgfct^ 



54121. 




SNTERED ac- 
cording to the 
Act of Con- 
gress, in the year J900, 
by D« B. Shepp, in the 
office of the Librarian 
of Congress^ at Wash- 
ington, D. C. 



s^ 



All rights reserved 



SECOND COPY, 



s!ic<^. ?>. \ "3 



t>r>, 



: .'JtVi, 



PREFACE. 

THE century ends in war. The next to the last year of it was 
marked by a gathering of the Powers at The Hague to make 
plans for the maintenance of peace. But at the very moment 
when that august and benevolent assembly was deliberating 
upon its task, the elements of war were vigorously at work. Nor 
was the latter on a small scale. A war was in menace which was 
destined to overshadow half the world. 

For ages Africa has been the wonder-continent of the globe. 
" Ever comes something new from Africa," said Pliny, and his words 
hold true to-day. After centuries of adventure, discovery, and what 
not else, that continent is made at the end of the nineteenth century 
the battle-ground on which is to be decided the fate of the greatest 
empire the world has ever seen. 

That is the paramount feature of the case. The strife between 
Briton and Boer in South Africa is an old one. It had its orio-in a 
century ago. The discovery of diamond mines at Kimberley, sur- 
passing those of old Golconda, roused it into new activity. The 
discovery, or rediscovery, of the gold mines of ancient Ophir, whence 
King Solomon drew his unrivaled wealth, brought it to a crisis. But 
it was not a mere strife between Briton and Boer. 

For many a year Cape Town, the British metropolis in South 
Africa, had dreamed her dream, as Kipling has put it, of ''one land 
from Lion's Head to Line." Similarly, the sturdy Dutchmen of 
the Transvaal and Orange State, with not a few of those of Cape 
Colony itself, had dreamed of one day undoing the ancient British 
conquest, of driving the hated British away from the Cape, and of 
making of all South Africa a purely Dutch confederation. 

For the accomplishment of these ends, both parties worked. 
The British were over-confident of their strength. They reckoned 
that they were bound to win, and that by the steady influx of their 
settlers they would gain control of the land. The Boers were more 
shrewd. They guarded against British political control by passing 

(5) 



PREFACE. 



laws forever excluding British and American and all English-speak- 
ino- settlers from citizenship, and they prepared to execute their plans 
with force and arms by secredy developing great military potency. 

It was in the penuldmate year of the century that the crash 
came. In October, 1899, the war began. To-day, as this volume is 
issued in the beginning of 1900, it is still raging fiercely, with a prom- 
ise, or a threat, to continue through the year, to the century's end. 

The purport of the present book is to present the history of 
the origin of that w^ar, and to narrate the story of the actual conflict 
as it rages. While these pages are being w^ritten batdes that may 
decide the fate of the Empire are being fought. The emergency is 
unique, and must be met in unique fashion. Mankind cannot wait 
a generation for a history of such a war. The history must come hot 
from the press, as the cannon-shot comes hot from the deadly tube. 
In the performance of this task, writer and pubHsher have spared 
no pains. It is necessarily a case of "history w^ritten while you 
wait." The first edition must be given to the w^aiting world before 
the issues of the war are fully decided. The writer must tell his 
story in the present tense. It is not the war that was, but the war 
that is. When the last chapter is written, and the last edition sent 
forth, the w^ar will be done. Until that time, the historian is the 
chronicler of the day's doings, awaiting the morrow^ for the continu- 
ation of his tale. 

Never, perhaps, w^as history w^ritten from more romantically- 
gained advices. One correspondent sends his contribution from a 
beleaguered city under the wings of a carrier dove. Another sends 
his by a lithe native runner, who slips through the enemy's lines at 
risk of life. A third gives his bulletin in flashes of fire upon the 
sk}-. read thirty miles aw^ay. And all come quivering over the thou- 
sands of leagues of wnre, stretched on the deep sea floor, to where 
the historian, and the typesetter, and the lightning press, w^ait to put 
them into the finished form of a book for a million eager readers. 
Such is the present w^ork. As such it is commended to the 
public that awaits it as the contemporaneous record of one of the 
most momentous wars the present generation has beheld. 



M 




FieId=Marshal Lord Roberts. 




Lord Kitchener. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGH 

The Dawn of History — Origin of Egypt — Israel in Egypt — The Plagues 
of Egypt — ^The Mystery of the Nile — The Persian Conquest — ^The 
Christian Era — Growth of Egyptian Commerce — Alexander the Great 
— The Ptolemies — The Founding of Carthage — Growth of Carthage 
— The Opening of Africa — The Punic Wars — Hannibal — Invasion of 
Italy — ^The Defeat of Carthage — The Fall of Hannibal — Rebuilding 
Carthage — The Last Struggle — "Carthago Defenda Est" — The Final 
Scene — Caesar^ and Pompey — Antony and Cleopatra 17 

CHAPTER II. 

The Mohammedan Invasion and Colonization of Africa — The Mohamme- 
dan Invasion — Mohammedan Colonization — The Coming of the Por- 
tuguese — War in Morocco — Henry the Navigator — Explorations and 
Conquests — Trade in Slaves and Gold — Vasco Da Gama — Prester 
John's Kingdom — ^The West Coast and the Congo — The Kingdom 
of Congo — On the East Coast — Advent of the Dutch in Africa — 
Foundation of Cape Colony — Trouble with the Natives — French Hu- 
guenots at the Cape — Growth of the Colony — Trouble with the Kaffirs 
— A Bankrupt Colony — British Seizure and Annexation — Story of 
South Africa 38 

CHAPTER III. 

Early Explorers of the Dark Continent — Early Explorers — Greeks and 
Romans — Ptolemy — Portuguese Explorers — Exploring South Africa 
— British Adventurers — Seeking the Source of the Nile — Timbuctoo 
— Mungo Park — Dutch Settlements — Portuguese Activities — The 
British in South Africa — Congo and Niger — French Explorers — ^The 
Sahara and Soudan — Lander's Work in Nigeria — Borrioboola-Gha — 
British Enterprise — Earth's Great Work 57 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Dutch Settlements at the Cape of Good Hope — A Despotic System 
— Growiih of the Colony — British Acquisition — Establishing British 
Rule — Origin of the Boers — ^The Missionaries — Increasing Coloniza- 
tion — Friction between the Briton and Boer — ^The Slave Question — 
EflFects of Emancipation 74 

t7) 



TAl'-LK OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 



Chaka, the Zulu Tyrant — Chaka Comes to the Throne — A Bloody Begin- 
ning — The Zulu Army — The Deadly Assegai — Schemes of Conquest — 
The Zulu Government — A Reign of Terror — At the Height of his 
Power — Scenes of Slaughter — Chaka's Dream — The Crowning Infamy 
—The Tyrant's End— The World's Worst Monster 83 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Great Trek — Triechard begins the Exodus — Settling the Transvaal — 
Moselekatse—War with the Matabeles — ^An Awful Massacre — A Bloody 
Struggle — Losses of the Boers — A Campaign of Vengeance — An Un- 
fortunate Halt — "Trekking" in Earnest — Dissensions Arise — In Din- 
gaan's Country — A Savage Trick — The Slaughter of the Boers — Mas- 
sacre at the Camp — Flight of the Missionaries — Invading Zululand 
— Death of Uys — Another Disaster — Zulu Raids — To the Rescue — ■ 
Action of the Government — A Halt in the Campaign 96 

CHAPTER VIL 

The Great Kaffir War — A Change of Policy — Advance in Education — 
The "War of the x\xe'' — Sir Harry Smith — Missionaries and Convicts 
— Witch Doctors Cause Trouble — British Disasters — The Birkenhead 
— Progress of the War — Sir George Grey — The Kosa Kaffirs — A Dis- 
astrous Movement — Sending Aid to India — South African Federation 
— Progress at the Cape — The Discovery of Diamonds — End of Kaffir 
Troubles 118 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Dingaan and the Dutch — "Dingaan's Day" — Fall of Dingaan — British 

Jealousies — Natal Seized by the British 136 

CHAPTER IX. 

Progress of the Republic — Prosperity — Rise of the Transvaal — Pretorius 
and Kruger — British Annexation — Opposition of the Boers — The War 
for Independence 141 

CHAPTER X. 

The Zulu War — Moving Against the Zulus — The Zulus Defeated — Invas- 
ion of Zululand — End of the War — Boer Seizure of Zululand — In- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 

PAGE 

crease of Cape Colony — Basutoland — The Basuto War — ^The Basutos 
and the Orange Free State — ^Annexation of Basutoland — Bechuana- 
land 148 

CHAPTER XL 

Outbreak of the First Boer War — Outbreak of the War — Disaster for the 
British — ^Advance of the Boers — Defence of Potchefstroom — Fierce 
Assaults — Colley's Campaign — Sympathy with the Boers — The Rival 
Forces — Laing's Nek — Ingogo — British Reinforcements — Majuba Hill 
— ^The British Routed — End of the War — Compensation for Losses 
— Transvaal Finances 159 

CHAPTER XH. 

The Conventions Between Great Britain and the Boers — Suzerainty — Mr. 
Gladstone on Blood-Guiltiness — The Convention of 1884 — The Trans- 
vaal Constitution — The State Church — ^The President — The Army — 
The Judges — ^The Second Volksraad — Purport of the Constitution — 
The Orange Constitution 173 

CHAPTER XHL 

The Explorations and Missionary Work of Livingstone — Burton and Speke 
— Up the Nile — Baker and His Work — Livingstone in Zambezia — 
Stanley's First Venture — Dr. Rohlfs — Dr. Nachtigal — Miss Tinne — 
Paul Du Chaillu — Serpa Pinto — Dr. Schweinfurth — On the Zambezi 
— The "Scramble for Africa" — Rhodesia — ^Joseph Thomson — Stanley 
and Emin Pasha — West Africa — Somaliland ' 184 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Transvaal Parliament — Secret Sittings — The Favorite Topic — Kru- 
ger's Influence — ^The Second Raad — What the Members are Like — 
The Cape Parliament — Plenty of Room — The Sessions — Winter Ses- 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Famous Diamond Mines of Kimberley — A Unique Scene — Discoveiy 
of the Diamonds — View of the Mines — How they are Worked — 
"Spreading the Blue" — Washing Out the Stones — ^Searching the Work- 
ers — In the Offices — Who Owned the Stone? 206 



lO TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

PAGE 

Cecil Rhodes — Made by Diamonds — His Only Chance — Mr. Rhodes and 
General Gordon — Dealing with the Basutos — Making a Dream Come 
True — A Fitting Leader — The Jameson Raid — Never Caught Napping 
— In the Matoppo Hills — In the Savage Council — Talking with the 
Savages — A Daring Speech — The ]\Iaking of Peace — A Conqueror — A 
Typical Empire Builder 212 

CHAPTER XVn. 

The Cape-to-Cairo Railroad Scheme — From Cape Town to Cairo — ^The 
Road now^ in Operation — The Next Stage — On the Lakes — The Final 
Stretch — Some Account of the Countr\' — North of the Zambezi — In 
the Highlands — Lake Tanganyika 222 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Story of Khartoum — The Time of Change — The Rise of the Mahdi — 
The Soudan in the I\Iahdi's Hands — The Alahdi Comes to Khartoum 
— The Siege of Khartoum — The Effect of Abu Klea — The Death of 
Gordon — ^The Death of the ]\Iahdi — The Rule of the Khalifa — The End 
of it All — Adowa — Kassala — The Victory at Firket — Up to the Atbara 
— The Atbara Campaign — The Night March — The Battle of the Atbara 
— The Final Advance on Khartoum — The Concentrating Point — The 
Shabluka Cataract — The Sirdar's Calculations — The Battle of Omdur- 
man, September 2, 1898 — With Sword and Spear and Banner as of 
Old — The First Attack — The Second Derv-ish Attack — The Final Ad- 
vance — The Sirdar Enters Omdurman — In ^Memory of Gordon 232 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Great Chartered Companies — Origin of the Matabeles — First Steps to- 
ward Colonization — The South Africa Company — Trouble with Loben- 
gula— The Shangani Patrol— "Men of Utn They Were"— Fall of the 
Native Power — The Last Struggle — Railroad Building — Up to the 
Lakes 252 

CHAPTER XX. 

Discovery of Gold — "The Rand" — Johannesburg — The Outlanders — Origin 
of the Transvaal Wealth — Adventures — Features of the Mining Region 
—How the Gold is Found — Cost and Profit — Equipment of the Mines 
— In the Assav Office 262 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. II 

CHAPTER XXI. 

PAGE. 

Grievances of the Outlanders — Equal Privileges Promised in 1881 — Chang- 
ing the Law — How the Promise was Kept — Condition of Citizenship 
— Allegiance, and Nothing in Return — The Agitation for Redress — 
Another Turn of the Screw — The Demands of the Outlanders — Begin- 
ning Agitation 270 

CHAPTER XXH. 

The Story of Delagoa Bay — Great Britain Gets the Bay — MacMahon 
Against England — Impossible Condition — Slow Work in Court 2JJ 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Story of the Jameson Raid — Services Among Savages — ^A Fine Ad- 
ministrator — Fighting the Matabeles — How the Raid Began — Inspired 
by Clive — Preparations for the Raid — Recruiting a Motley Host — On 
the March — The Raid Condemned — Progress of the Raiders — The Bat- 
tle of Krugersdorp — The Boers ''Lie Low" — A Desperate Charge — A 
Bad Night — The End of the Game — How the Raiders were Trapped 
— ^The White Flag — ^Treatment of the Raiders — A Tell-tale Letter — 
Magnanimity of President Kruger — Handed Over to the British — 
Punishment of the Raiders — The TransvaaFs Bill 283 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Renewed Agitation — The Outlander Petition — The Mining Industry — In 
terference with Justice — Conduct of the Police — Summary of Griev- 
ances — The Right of Public Meeting — The Reply to the Petition — Ar- 
rests by the Boers — Failure of the Conference — Schemes and Counter- 
schemes — Suggesting Another Gonference — The Final British Pro- 
posal — Acceptance Urged — ^The Ofifer Rejected — Attitude of the 
Orange State 302 

CHAPTER XXV. 

General Joubert's Address to Queen Victoria — The Boers' Discontent — 
The 181 5 Rebellion — ^The Trek from the Colony — The Dangers of 
the Wilderness — First Kaffir Engagement — Ill-fated Trekkers — The 
Ding^an Massacre — Visit of Captain Jarvis — Defeat of Dingaan — The 
English Occupation — Emigrant Boers Resist — Antagonism to British 
Rule — ^The Boomplaats Engagement — Sand River Treaty — The Dis- 
ruption — War with England- —The Retrocession — Discovery of Gold — 
Discontent in Johannesburg — Mr. Chamberlain's Statements 315 



I 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 



PACK 



*'Ooni Paul"— Taking Part in the "Great Trek"— A Panther Fight— Ris- 
ing to Leadership — Leader of the Transvaal — The Rush for Gold — 
Personal Appearance — His House and His Lions — Mr. Kruger's 
Wealth — Hardihood and Hunting Prowess — Characteristic Incidents 
— Kruger's Diplomacy — A Curious Combination 33^ 

CPIAPTER XXVII. 

Boer Leaders — Joubert and Kruger — A Much Camera'd Man — How He 
Helped Kruger's Election — A Great Letter Writer — The Boer Ambas- 
sador — A Man of Craft — His Rise to Power — A Social Leader — Sent 
Abroad — A Boer Judge — Secretary Reitz — Landdrost Smith— A Boer 
Jingo — A German OfBcer .• ..■ 348 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Negotiations Ended — Reaction at Pretoria — Moving for Action — Preparing 
for the Plunge — The Boer Ultimatum — Complaints Against England 
— Military Menaces— The Final Demand — "All South Africa" — An 
Afrikander Nation 358 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Sir Alfred Milner, British Governor of the Cape — Beginning a Great Ca- 
reer — In Politics — A Born Diplomatist — Personal Traits — The British 
Commander — In the Thick of It — From Sheer Fatigue — Buller and 
the Drunkard — Buller on Colley's Blunder 369 

• 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Outbreak of the War — The Great Exodus — Commandeering — A Multi- 
tude of Exiles — British Preparations — Under-rating the Boers — Be- 
ginning the War ^yg 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Boer Advance — The First Shot — Hot Fighting — On the Hill— General 
Symons's Courage — A Comical Sight — Abandoning Dundee — Flight 
of the People — A Veritable Panic — Entry of the Boers — Scenes of Loot 
— Boers in Full Control , .';-.-i .:v;i;;; , , ^d>6 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



The Battle of Elandslaagte — Elandslaagte — A Challenge — Shot After Shot 
— An Ingenious Device — The Infantry Charge — Incidents of the 
Charge — "Most Awfully Proud of My Regiment" — "War is a Funny 
Game, Mother" — Explosive Ammunition Effects — A Boer Soldier's 
Story — The British Attack — Gordon's Final Rush — Col. Chisholme. . 394 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The Battle of Rietfontein, or Tinta in Inyoni — Rietfontein — ^The Fiercest 
of the Fight — Valor of the Boers — A Victory of Strategy — The Re- 
treat from Dundee — Moving in the Rain — Shell Took Effect — Party 
of Boers — A Narrow Escape — A Night March — An Anxious Time — 
Tired Out and Sleepy — The Imperturbable British Soldier — A Trying 
Experience — More Misadventures 408 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The Boers Advance to the Siege of Ladysmith — Beginning the Battle — 
Among the Hills — A Desperate Conflict — An Artillery Duel — Good 
Work of the Boer Guns — The Navy to the Rescue — A Heavy Loss. 419 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Sending a British Army to South Africa — Feeding the Army — The Hos- 
pital Ship ''Maine" — The Ship of Mercy---Arrival of General 
Buller 427 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
The Boer Advance — The Defender of Mafeking — Defying the Boers — 
An Armored Train Fight — A Unique Scene — Falling Back in Good 
Order — Small Losses — In a Beleagured Town — Boers and Natives 
— The Kimberley Pot — At Ladysmith 433 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The Plan of General BuUer's Campaign — Lord Methuen's Advance — 
Belmont — A Gallant Charge — Graspan and Enslin — The Great 
Charge — A Rude Surprise — Marvelous Valor on Both Sides — Mod- 
der River — The Boer Position — Fully 10,000 Boers — The British 
Advance — Terrible Shell and Rifle Fire — It Simply Rained Bullets — 
Rushes for the River — A Welcome Reinforcement — Cavalry in Pur- 
suit of Cronje 441 



14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Tlie Situation in Natal — Naval Batteries for Inland Work — Estcourt — 
The Armored Train — The Boer Advance — Disaster to the Train — 
A Correspondent's Work — The Naval Batteries on Land — Good 
Work of the Guns — Gun Mottoes — A Brilliant Sortie — Surprising 
the Boers — Destruction of the Gun — The Return To Camp 451 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

A Week of British Disasters — Meeting the Foe — Forced to Retire — 
Magersfontein — Making the Attack — Fine Work of the Boers^ 
Heroic Deeds — Dreadful Losses — The Third Disaster 461 

CHAPTER XL. 

Great Britain Roused to Action — Great British Preparations — Lord Rob- 
erts — The Hero of Kandahar — Lord Kitchener — Winning His Way 
— The March to Khartoum — MacDonald 468 

CHAPTER XLI. 
After the Week of Disaster — On the Road to Kimberley — Baden-Powell's 
Proclamation — Sortie from Mafeking — After the Battle — Surrender 
of Kuruman — Operations at Dordrecht — General French's Victory 
— Another Boer Repulse — Pilcher's Raid — Colonial Troops in 
Action — Accuracy of Gun Fire — Winston Spencer Churchill's 
Escape — Boer Aggressiveness — Delagoa Bay — Stopping German 
Ships 475 

CHAPTER XLH. 

Boer Movement Against Ladysmith — The Boer Attack — The First Re- 
pulse— A Fight at Daybreak— On Wagon Hill— A Critical Position 
— The Final Charge — Buller's Co-operation — The British Advance 
— Crossing the Tugela .gj^ 



»q 





Boer Family of Sharpshooters, 



CHAPTER ! 



The Dawn of History— Origin of Egypt— Israel in Egypt— The Plagues 

of Egypt— The Mystery of the Nile— The Persian Conquest— The 

Christian Era— Growth of Egyptian Commerce— Alexander the 

Great— The Ptolemies— The Founding of Carthage— Growth 

of Carthage— The Opening of Africa— The Punic Wars— 

Hannibal— Invasion of Italy— The Defeatof Carthage 

—The Fall of Hannibal — Rebuilding Carthage— The 

Last Struggle— "Carthago Defenda Est"— The 

Final Scene— Caesar and Pompey— Antony 

and Cleopatra. 



"Always," said Pliny, " there comes something new from Africa." It is equally true 
that from Africa came that which is oldest in civilization and in history. The hu- 
man race is reputed to have been cradled in Asia, and it is said that the first nations 
arose in that continent, afterward migrating to Africa and founding new nations 
there. That may be. But of those times we have no definite record. For us his- 
tory begins with Africa. Upon the threshold of the world's records stands Egypt, 
mysterious and complete. 



THAT marvellous valley, extending for six hundred miles be- 
tween the African wilderness on the west and the barren 
mountains of the Red Sea on the east, developed the history 

of one of the most remarkable nations of the world. The 
Nile was considered in mythology to have been one of the paradi- 
saical rivers ; and as such received idolatrous honors in common 
with the Ganges and Brahma-pootra of Bengal. A branch of the 
Caucasian race, it would appear, crossed the straits of Babelmandeb, 
mastered the Ethiopians whom it met ; founded an empire on the 
Oriental system of castes in Nubia ; then advanced with the stream 
and established that of Upper Egypt ; and lastly spread over Lower 
Egypt and the Delta. Originally they came from India, and are 
enumerated by Manetho and Josephus as the Royal Shepherds, or 
Shepherd Kings, under whom the Pyramids were constructed ; their 
irruption may be fairly dated at B. c, 2160, or five years before the 
birth of the patriarch Abraham. 

2 (17} 



\S TBIE DxWVN OF HISTORY. 

Origrin of Egypt. 

In the division of the earth, Egypt had fallen to the family of 
Misraim, who erected Thebes, naming the city after the wonderful 
vessel in wliich their diluvian ancestor had been preserved, and a 
model of which served as their principal temple. The old chronicle 
of Syncellus declares that the eight demi-gods reigned as an og- 
doad, with their posterity of the Cynic or Canicular Circle, for fifteen 
generations, through a period of 660 years ; suprisingly corres- 
pondent with the Chaldaic calculation mentioned by St. Epiphanius 
as to the residence of the Noachidae in Armenia. The posterity of 
Misraim. must have maintained their occupancy, however, for rather 
more than another two centuries and three-quarters, until the irrup- 
tion of the Royal or Cuthite Shepherds ; who in their turn were 
driven out by the native population after a period of about 260 years, 
or B. c. 1900. Their withdrawal left very much at the national dis- 
posal the nome of Gessen, or Abaris, which the Shepherds had so 
long retained as their stronghold, being the most fertile pasture- 
ground in Lower Egypt, lying on the east or Arabian side of the 
Nile. 

Israel in Egypt. 

Within fifteen years, the patriarch Joseph was sold as a slave to 
Potiphar, then master of the forces to King Pharaoh, whose pru- 
dent policy led to the settlement of his brethren in the country, as 
detailed in the Holy Scriptures. For nearly four generations they 
there prospered and multiplied ; when the Cuthite Shepherds once 
more returned, 145 years subsequently to the former expulsion of 
their forefathers, (which explains the statement, in the second book 
of the Pentateuch, that ''there had arisen a new king or dynasty 
over Egypt, who knew not Joseph,") b. c. 1756 ; and this second do- 
mination lasted down to the Exodus of the Children of Israel, b. c. 
1650. The ten plagues had by that time exhausted the persecu- 
tors ; receiving also, as the latter did, their final overthrow in the 
waves of the Red Sea at Phlhahlroth before Beelsephon. 

It was probably in b. c. 2080-1650, that there occurred this mar- 
velous exodus of the Israelites ; multiplied, as they now were, from 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY, 1 9 

the seventy-five souls with whom Jacob and Joseph had addressed 
Pharaoh, Into 600,000 warriors, besides their wives and offspring. 
After a sojourn in the land of Gessen for little more than a century, 
the Royal Shepherds had reinstated their dynasty on the banks of 
the Nile, in no way disposed to recognize the claims of the Hebrews ; 
occupying, as they did, a territory or nome which the invaders 
looked upon as most peculiarly their own, their ancestors having 
been expelled from it about fifteen years prior to the arrival of Jo- 
seph in Egypt. The Israelites, therefore, had to endure the hardest 
bondage in those horrible brick-kilns, where the materials were pre- 
pared for the public edifices of Memphis and other splendid cities. The 
more, however, they were oppressed and persecuted, the faster they 
increased ; until a cruel edict for the massacre of their infants led to 
the rescue of one of them by the daughter of Pharaoh, who dis- 
covered among the flags an ark of bulrushes, in which a lovely babe 
appealed to her compassion with its tears. 

This was Moses, destined to become the meek and yet mighty 
man of God, the legislator and deliverer of his people. Exchang- 
ing for their sake the delicacies of a court for the wildernesses of 
Madian, he there received, as he was feeding the flocks of his father- 
in-law Jethro, a divine commission from the angel of the Lord, who 
appeared to him in the burning bush, and appointed him to his 
exalted office. For forty years, with the assistance of his elder 
brother Aaron, he braved the rage of tyranny in palaces, the dull- 
ness of his own nation crushed under Its terrible task-work, and the 
malice of the old serpent as manifested among the magicians of 
Misraim. 

The Plag-ues of Egrypt, 

Waters were turned Into blood ; frogs, lice and flies scourged 
the unhappy country ; the flocks and herds failed In the forsaken 
fields ; boils and blalns broke out upon man and beast ; thunder, 
hail and lightning roared and fell, and flashed in the rear of mur- 
rain and universal malady ; locusts destroyed what the tempest had 
spared ; a horror of great darkness wrapt every quarter, except that 
of the children of Israel, In an awful pass of alarm and panic for 



20 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

three days ; until the final plague smote down every first-born, from 
the throne of the sovereign to the hovel of the slave and the captive 
in the duno-eon, and not a house existed where the death-wail was 
unknown unless it had been solemnly consecrated by the Paschal 
Lamb of the Lord. Jannes and Mambres then acknowledged 
openly, as they had before done secretly, that their sorceries were 
futile ; whilst, at the request of all Egypt, Moses and his people 
withdrew in triumph, and laden with spoils, from the scene of their 
bitter bondage ; encamping over against Phihahiroth, between 
Magdal and Beelsephon. Thither the last of the Royal Shepherds 
destined to reign over the valley of the Nile madly followed ; the 
waves of the Red Sea, miraculously divided for the Hebrews, over- 
whelmed the pursuers. Egypt recovered her independence, and 
once more expelled the Cuthites from her coasts. 

The Mystery of the Nile. 

The mean width of the valley between Syene and Cairo has 
been calculated at about three leagues ; and the whole area of culti- 
vable soil, exclusive of the lateral valleys and the oases, at eleven 
thousand square miles. It cannot fail to strike the mind, that there 
seems something mysterious in the history of this fruitful country 
from its very commencement, with its peculiar system of laws and 
customs, its gross and yet stern superstitions, its reverence for the 
state of the dead, and its theocratically sovereign priesthood. This 
last became a depository for all arts and sciences ; possessing also 
enormous wealth, of which it could never be deprived. Meanwhile 
a system of castes pressed upon the entire population as onerously 
as in Hindoostan ; and yet the natives, although so often vanquished 
themselves, never amalgamated with their victors, but in their turn 
not unfrequently produced mighty warriors, who threw off one 
domestic yoke after another, or even overpassed in military triumph 
the narrow limits of their territory. Under several of their ancient 
kings, conquering expeditions appear to have extended towards the 
east as far as Bactria and India, or northward and southward to the 
Caucasus and Ethiopia. The symbols of their idolatry also blended 
easily together, being derived from common sources ; for the Egyp- 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 21 

tian Apis found itself identical with the sacred bull of the Assyrians, 
and the Nandi, or consecrated cow, of the Brahmins. 

The Iranian and Nilotic monarchies were in fact contempor- 
aneous empires ; nor is it a little remarkable that the name of 
Nineveh is found in the statistical tablet of Karnak, b. c. 1490. 
Some have actually believed that much of Assyrian civilization had 
an Egyptian origin ; but the former has evidently a more natural, 
and the latter a more conventional character. For any permanency, 
the arms of Egypt perhaps scarcely ever extended further than 
Mesopotamia; but that region, at all events, at one time sent its 
tribute to Thebes and Memphis in the shape of corn, dates, palm- 
wine, honey and incense. Absolute as the sacerdotal dignity proved 
in a religious sense, the royal prerogative claimed to be in a secular 
one often exempted from its operation, at least during the life of the 
sovereign. As to all the visible representations of social life, whether 
public or private, we now gaze with astonishment at the vases, 
bracelets^ embroidered robes, ornamented chariots, utensils, weapons 
and engines of war, enormous galleys, ingenious developments of 
mechanism, modes of administering justice, carrying on agriculture 
and architecture, which must have existed under the ancient Pharaohs, 
exhibited on the solemn walls of their mausoleums ; to say nothing 
of the pyramids and obelisks, or the ruins of Thebes and Elephanta. 

The Persian Conquest. 

We cannot here trace, even in outline, the long intricate story 
of Egypt, but must hasten on to the end of its Independent exist- 
ence This came with the Persian conquest. 

Nabonadius, a Babylonian noblemen, had been left by the 
Median Darius as his viceroy In the metropolis of Nabuchodonosor 
and his successors. The rebellion of such a satrap seemed to follow, 
as almost a matter of course, on oriental principles. Cyrus, how- 
ever, conquered him, and captured the proud city itself, B.C. 536; 
which also led to the subjection of Egypt, and his acquisition of the 
entire Assyrian empire. His government appears to have been 
eminent for its moderation and energy; and for the seven years 
previous to his death remained unshaken, like a mountain of ada- 



2 2 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

mant. His eldest-born son, Cambyses, a monster of iniquity, suc- 
ceeded, B. c. 529, to the bulk of his wealth and power; Smerdis, the 
younger brother, being invested with the vice-royalty of Media, 
Armenia and a third part of Cadusia. Egypt, after no very long 
interval, struggled vainly to throw off the Persian yoke. It had 
always been ready to resist Assyria whenever possible ; and with 
that view had acted with the monarchs of Sardis, or any other coun- 
try, as occasion offered. 

In the seventh century before the Christian era, a Greek colony 
had been introduced under Psammitichus, who fostered their lan- 
guage and customs, imbibing from them, in his own opinion, higher 
elements of civilization. He explored the fountains of the Nile, 
sanctioned the cultivation of vines, allied himself with the Scythians, 
then domineering over Upper Asia, and died after a reign of fifty- 
four years, b. c. 619, or perhaps a little earlier. He was the father 
of Pharaoh-Necho, who slew the pious Josias, king of Judah, and 
took Jerusalem ; ending his career, nevertheless, not so prosperously 
as he commenced it, the Assyrian-Babylonish sceptre proving too 
strong for him. His grandson Apries, or Pharaoh-Hophra, con- 
nected with the scriptural Zedekias, ran an exactly analogous course. 

Growth of Eg^yptian Commerce. 

Egypt itself, however, amidst these revolutions of political for- 
tune, grew so rich and commercial that a canal through the Isthmus 
of Suez was seriously contemplated, and the voyage round the 
African continent by the Red Sea, the Cape of Good Hope, and the 
Pillars of Hercules, would really seem to have been accomplished. 
Yet iron is stronger than gold ; so that Nabuchodonosor and Cyrus 
subjugated the noble valley of the Nile, and received tribute from 
its inhabitants. It revolted, indeed, under the successor of the latter 
potentate ; but Cambyses crushed the insurrection with atrocious 
cruelty, B.C. 525, contemplating, upon his success, an extended 
invasion of Carthage by sea, as well as Libya and the Ethiopian 
Abyssinia by land. Failure followed upon all these projects. 

The Phoenicians in his service refused to fiorht agrainst the Carth- 
aginians, descended with themselves from common ancestors. His 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 23 

army destined for the Ammonians perished beneath the blast of a 
simoon in the sands ; that portion of the troops attendant on his 
person, on the journey to Abyssinia, had to drink their own blood, 
and kill, if not devour, every tenth man for the subsistence of the 
survivors ; and his retreat to Memphis covered him with shame and 
mortification. 

He there lost the remnant of whatever sense he might have 
once possessed. The priests of Apis were scourged, and their 
sacred heifer wounded ; he murdered his brother Smerdis ; married 
two of his own sisters, and kicked the younger to death for daring 
to bewail the fratricide ; he violated the sanctity of graves in exhum- 
ing mummies for the gratification of his insatiable curiosity ; and, 
above all, he made an onslaught on the mysteries of the Cabiri. 
The whole empire groaned, until a Magus set himself up as the real 
Smerdis, supposed to have been assassinated, but who, as he averred, 
was not actually destroyed. Cambyses hurried back towards Susa, 
and expired on the road, in part from an accident, B.C. 521. The 
impostor reigned for seven months. 

Alexander the Great. 

The next great event in the Egyptian history was the conquest 
by Alexander the Great. In the nomes of the Nile there was no 
opposition shown towards any one ready to liberate them from the 
bondage of Persia. Alexander pressed on as far as the great oasis 
in Libya, where, either through policy or superstition, the oracle 
pronounced him to be the genuine offspring of Jupiter Ammon, 
The winter was spent at Memphis. It was in that m.etropolis that 
he developed those talents for administrative government which 
showed that he was something more than a merely fortunate soldier. 
He not only conquered the land of the Pharaohs, but instructed his 
representatives how to rule it. 

In the first place, he separated the financial, judicial, and mili- 
tary functions, to prevent the oppression of the people by their 
union ; each official was responsible to himself, his own presiding 
mind combining the various departments into one comprehensive 
system. He then founded Alexandria, to become an emporium of 



^4 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

commerce between the eastern and western wonds, through its 
marvellous river, with its seven mouths and two adjacent seas. 

The Ptolemies. 

Egypt appears to have been the most fortunate of the four 
Macedonian kingdoms founded after the death of Alexander. At 
the third and final partition, consequent on the battle of Ipsus, 
Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, acquired the entire valley of the Nile, 
with part of Arabia, Libya, Cyrene, Palestine, and Coelosyrla. He 
erected the pharos of Alexandria, enlarged and adorned that flour- 
ishing capital, collected its celebrated library, invited learned men 
from all countries to his court, and encouraged every kind of trade 
and commerce. His son, Philadelphus, trod in his footsteps, as did 
his grandson Evergetes. The Septuagint Avas composed or trans- 
lated ; literature found greater patronage than ever ; a canal was 
constructed between the river and the Red Sea, or rather a former 
one re-opened, to facilitate intercourse and traffic with India, par- 
ticularly through the harbor of Berenice, which was then formed for 
the purpose. The three tolerable Ptolemies were followed by ten 
degenerate ones, down to the sentimental and profligate Cleopatra. 

In Egypt in these later times the Jews constituted an important 
portion of the population. Ptolemy Lagus carried home with him 
to the homes of the Nile 100,000 captives from Jerusalem and Judaea, 
upon whom afterwards he not only conferred innumerable favors, 
but extended his patronage to their native pontiffs on Mount Sion. 
His wise and liberal policy permanently added to his dominions Cy- 
prus, Arabia, Libya, and Ethiopia. Beneath his auspices the high- 
priest Simon the Just, b. c. 300-291, repaired and fortified the sacred 
city with its temple, illustrating the inspired eulogy of Ecclesiasticus ; 
besides revising the canon of the Old Testament; of which, under 
his son Eleazar, a translation was commenced by the seventy inter- 
preters, called the Septuagint version. 

The Founding^ of Carthage. 

The other great African State of antiquity was Carthage, which 
was founded B. c. 878. The Phoenicians had long been familiar with 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 25 

the African coasts, where they fostered the cultivation of corn, or 
still more that of commerce, although convenient harbors were far 
from being numerous. On a rock, in the background of its bay, 
stood Byrsa, or the higher part of the city, the primeval settlement 
of Dido. She is described in history and poetry as sister to a king 
of Tyre ; and, absurdly enough, as having entertained ^neas only 
too hospitably on his voyage from Asia to the Tiber. The lower 
streets, on the narrow spit of land which formed the double haven, 
were called Megara ; the tract adjoining the greater port was styled 
Kotton ; whilst an island opposite to the projecting point protected 
the whole. It seemed a location providentially arranged for an an- 
cient emporium. Its political constitution claimed the admiration of 
Aristotle. Two judges, chosen annually from the most distinguished 
families, were at the head of the government. Their subjects styled 
them Suffetes ; almost an identical title w^ith that which was conferred 
upon Barak, Gideon, and Jephthah in the sacred Scriptures. Under 
them a cabinet of five self-elected officials managed the details of 
public afiairs, without any salaries for their labors. But they nomi- 
nated the senate of one hundred members, who, with themselves, 
and a few others as assistants or assessors, constituted an omnipo- 
tent legislative authority. If they differed in opinion, there ensued 
an appeal to the general assembly of the people. Morals were more 
attended to at Carthage than in most Grecian cities ; and there was 
a magistrate there corresponding with the Roman censor. National 
idiosyncrasies also assisted in preserving the state from democratic 
convulsions. The people were of a grave or even gloomy character. 
Their commercial and religious tastes combined into one horrible 
union the worship of Mammon and Moioch. On occasions of panic 
or alarm three hundred noble children were sacrificed in the red- 
hot arms of iron idols glowing over as many fiery furnaces ; so 
frightfully complete had the transfer been made of Phoenician super- 
stitions from Syria to Africa. 

Growth of Carthage. 

For several centuries the Carthaginian republic maintained its 
power and prosperity. Three hundred populous and wealthy towns 



26 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

or cities acknowledged its sway between Mount Atlas and the Medi- 
terranean. It undertook many distant and dangerous enterprises, 
by means of which discontent was diverted or allayed, energy en- 
couraged, and poverty lessened. Sicily, Malta, the Baleares, Sar- 
dinia, Corsica, and Spain were conquered. Wars were waged 
against the Etrurians in Italy, as also against the Massilians or 
Egyptians. Punic vessels frequented the west of Africa down to 
Cape de Verd, discovered the Canaries, sailed in the British, Ger- 
man, and Baltic seas, and possibly crossed the Atlantic Ocean. 
Silver mines in Spain proved to the countrymen of the Hannibals 
and Hamilcars what the xA^merican Peru and Mexico afterwards be- 
came to their explorers in later and modern ages. 

The possession of the precious metals enabled them to hire 
mercenaries, and thereby ultimately undermined and enervated the 
national spirit. Campaigns, after many generations, came to be 
carried on for venal purposes ; yet, down to the Syracusan and Ro- 
man expeditions, patriotism still stood its ground. Trade and com- 
merce have their bright as well as their dark aspects 

The Opening- of Africa. 

There was an intercourse carried on through the deserts which 
may well excite our wonder and admiration, extending from the 
metropolis as a centre over the arid wildernesses of Fezzan and the 
Garamantes to Zuila, the Greater Oasis, Ammonium, Zala, and 
Thebes ; whilst another route penetrated the barren wastes of the 
Syrtes and the Lotophagi : a third, branching from the two former, 
ran in a southern direction through the territories of the Atlantes, 
to Bournou and the Soudan ; so that the entire northern continent, 
with its dreaded Sahara, witnessed at certain seasons the arching 
necks of the camel-caravans, laden with dates, oils, silver coin, and 
embroidered fabrics, going to be exchanged for the gums, spices, 
ivory, and slaves of the interior. Wells were excavated and main- 
tained as watering-places at regular distances ; vestiges of their ex- 
tent and utility being still traceable. 

It may be safely affirmed that the Carthaginians knew more of 
Central Africa than the contemporaries of Shaw or Mungo Park. 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 27 

They not merely extended their native trade to the Niger and the 
Nile, but connected the Cyrenian pentapolis with their mercantile 
transactions in Upper Egypt. Battus, the Theraean, founded a 
rather flourishing monarchy about B.C. 631, which included all the 
regions between Marmarica and the Syrtes ; celebrated as they were 
for the valuable silphium, roses, violets, and other odorous aioma- 
tics. The Punic merchants exported them as far as Meroe in Ethi- 
opia across the sands of Nubia. Thence there was a circuitous 
route through Edfu to the Arabian Gulf and Berenice, as well as 
from Thebes to Cossier and Myos Hormos ; the last rivalled by 
another from Memphis to Phoenicia and Ezion Gaber. 

Egypt, therefore, became the centre of that increasing traffic 
circulating from Carthage to India, and flowing from the interior 01 
Africa into Syria, Persia, and Asia Minor. Her own emerald mines 
contributed to those luxurious yet easily portable treasures which 
attracted so many expensive and oriental refinements to the banks 
of her mysterious river. 

The Punic War. 

In time, however, Carthage came into fatal collision with Rome. 
Rome had resolved upon having a fleet ; when a single Carthaginian 
ship of war, driven by an accident on the Italian shores, happily 
served as a model. The future mariners of the Eternal City received 
their earliest lessons in rowing upon dry land ; and, inferior to their 
foes in the science of manoeuvering their vessels, they invented 
machines for grappling the galleys together in an action, and thereby 
reducing nautical tactics to the level of a land fight, The consul 
Duilius won the first naval victory. The Romans already triumphed 
in Sicily. Regulus, in imitation of Agathocles, carried the war into 
the Punic provinces, spreading terror to the gates of Carthage. 
Xanthippus, a Spartan mercenary, there defeated and captured him, 
with his entire army. The character of the unfortunate general has 
been unduly elevated by a legend describing him as a political martyr, 
put to death for his patriotism in a barrel lined with knives. 

At length a signal discomfiture off the ^gatian islands con- 
vinced Hamilcar Barcas that there must be a suspension of the 



2 8 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

struo-gle. Roman privateers had ravaged the African coasts, and 
even entered the port of Hippo,, setting fire to the merchantmen, 
and retreating with immense booty; nor were the Carthaginian 
forces to be quite depended on for their fidelity. Peace w^as there- 
fore made at the expense of surrendering all Sicily, and paying a 
large sum of money under color of the balance being against Car- 
thage in the exchange of prisoners. Besides which, they were to 
give an indemnity to the Romans of no talents of silver for twenty 
years, notwithstanding the protests of the African leaders, which 
only resulted in more onerous pecuniary terms. Finally, a thousand 
talents had to be paid down, with the period for paying the remainder 
shortened one-half; all Italian captives to be set at liberty without 
ransom ; and Hiero, sovereign of Syracuse, to be recognized as an 
inviolable ally of the Senate. 

Hannibal. 

The second Punic war had its commencement in Spain, where 
Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, the most illustrious generals of Carthage, 
were training Hannibal to avenge the misfortunes of their common 
countr}'. At a distance from the mean factions of the capital, this 
youthful hero had been long educated to a life of energy^ and valor 
among the best soldiers of his government ; deriving as it did the 
very sinews of its existence from the great silver mines. His father 
fostered in him, for good or for evil, an almost fanatical hatred 
against Rome; so that, it is said, at an early age the obligation of a 
solemn oath was imposed upon him never to make peace with the 
present masters of Italy. His genius and prowess commanded the 
admiration of antiquity. When twents'-six years old, he assumed 
his military leadership, with abilities on a par with those of Alex- 
ander, the Greek chieftains his predecessors, Pyrrhus of Epirus, or 
any other warrior who had yet appeared. 

To break the truce with Rome, he attacked Saguntum, an ally 
of the republic, b. c. 219; satiating his first fury amidst the massacre 
of its inhabitants, after they had defended their walls with a valor 
which should have encountered a better fate. The consuls had 
scarcely disentangled themselves from the sanguinary resistance of 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 29 

the Gauls ; so that some time elapsed before war was formally 
declared. Then it was, B.C. 214, that the adventurous son of Hamil- 
car marched a thousand miles in little more than five months across 
the Alps into Piedmont, losing by the way 30,000 infantry, 3000 
cavalry, all his elephants, and finding himself near the modern Turin 
at the head of only about 26,000 effective troops. 

Invasion of Italy, 

His entire course through the Pyrenees to the confluence of the 
Rhone and Saone, and then over the snowy summits and slippery 
glaciers of Mount Cenis, amidst the gathered winters of ages and 
the constant aggressions of hostile assailants, has ever been deemed 
almost equivalent to a miracle. His first battle secured him the 
submission and attachment of the recently devastated districts on 
the banks of the Ticino ; so that no sooner had the consul Scipio 
retreated, both baffled and wounded, than every kind of reinforce- 
ments and supply accumulated round the standard of Carthage. 
Then followed his second grand triumphant the Trebia ; with his 
subsequent advance through mud and water for four days and nights 
into Etruria, which cost him the loss of an eye, from exposure to the 
wet weather, and an enormous number of horses. 

Meanwhile Cneius Scipio, brother of the unfortunate consul, had 
landed in Spain, reducing what is now the country of Catalonia, and 
entirely overthrowing Hanno. Important advantages were also 
gained at sea, near the mouth of the Ebro, by the Romans ; all 
which advantages, however, received a fearful counterbalance in due 
season on the fatal margin of Thrasymene, where the Romans 
under Flaminius were drawn into an ambush by their astute and 
active adversaries, and severely beaten, with the slaughter of 15,000 
soldiers, their rash generals, and a multitude of auxiliaries. The 
famous Fabius Miximus then received his appointment to the office 
of dictator, in which he restored the affairs of the republic, shattered 
as they seemed by a social and political earthquake not less tremen- 
dous than the natural one, which made the ground literally rock and 
reel during the late combat with Hannibal, although neither of the 
armies is said to have been conscious of it at the moment. Yet not 



30 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

even the prudence of Fabius could avert the catastrophe of Cannae, 
B.C. 2 12. It gave the mighty victor possession of some of the 
fairest provinces for a considerable series of years. He could 
acquaint his friends in Africa, that in a succession of pitched battles 
he had slain or dispersed 200,000 of their enemies, taken 50,000 
prisoners, overrun Apulia, Brutium, Lucania, and Campania, and 
that three bushels of golden rings had been torn from the dead 
fingers of Roman knights and senators. 

The Defeat of Carthage. 

These last, hevertheless, found an abundance of avengers. The 
constancy of the city on the Seven Hills, throughout its multifarious 
misfortunes, can never be over-praised. The Roman ladies were 
not even allowed to shed tears. Their husbands and relatives 
remembered the traditions of their ancestors ; offered more frequent 
and expensive sacrifices, in the fervors of a religious spirit however 
erroneous ; and rapidly recovered their energies. Fresh forces 
were sent into Spain, for some time with rather doubtful success : 
until, under the auspices of the greatest of the Scipios, the troops 
of Carthage at length succumbed. Gracchus conquered Sardinia ; 
Syracuse, which after the decease of Hiero had changed sides, had 
to yield to Marcellus, although defended by the machines of Archi- 
medes for three years, b. c. 207 ; and the last hope of Hannibal, the 
army led to his assistance from beyond the Pyrenees by his brother 
Hasdrubal, was annihilated on the Metataurus by Tiberius Nero, 
B. c. 203. Yet he still maintained himself at the expense of the 
Roman provinces. 

The Fall of Hannibal. 

The warrior destined for his humiliation was to meet him on the 
plains of Zama. Scipio transported his forces thither, and compelled 
the Carthaginian senate to recall their champion from Capua, where 
enervating enjoyments had helped to undermine those energies 
which had conducted him from Saguntum to Campania. The purest 
of the Roman heroes was a youth in years, but an adult in wisdom 
and virtue. His splendid integrity and patriotism had induced the 
elders amongst his contemporaries in rank and position to forego 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY, 3 1 

their jealousies, and acquiesce in his palpable superiority. In 
chastity he stood alone as an example of that excellence, so rare in 
heathen annals : from his own camp he had banished 12,000 women 
of loose or dubious character. It was now to be decided whether 
Italy or Africa was to rule the Mediterranean. Hannibal intended 
with his elephants to break through the Roman lines, and then bring 
his armies into action on all sides. On the other hand, Scipio pene- 
trated his design, and allowed those tremendous animals simply to 
meet his light infantry, which opened and let them pass without 
injury ; immediately closing up his intervals, and falling with the 
flower of his troops upon his adversaries. Everything that general- 
ship or courage could do was done ; but Rome and her fortunes 
rose triumphant over the slaughter of 20,000 men, and the total 
defeat of Carthage. 

The second Punic war thus closed in unclouded victory, about 
two centuries before the Christian era. Rigorous terms of peace 
were imposed upon the prostrate foe. She was limited to her dis- 
armed metropolis and its proper territory. Numidia was taken from 
her and assigned to Masinissa, another Hiero in his aptitude for dis- 
covering the right mistress to serve. All her magnificent navy had 
to be surrendered, with the exception of ten triremes. Their liberty 
of declaring war, or making peace, ceased as to the free action of the 
Carthaginian authorities without the consent of the conquerors. Ex- 
actions upon a large scale ensued both in money and produce ; such 
as a tribute of 200 talents per annum for fifty years, besides an 
enormous quantity of corn and other supplies. All the elephants 
had to be given up ; nor were any more to be tamed and trained for 
warfare. Scipio, on his return, brought into the treasury i 20,000 lbs. 
weight of silver bullion. His triumph surpassed those of any of his 
predecessors in pomp and gorgeousness. Yet, when offered the dig- 
nity of perpetual dictator, he at once declined it, simply accepting the 
well-merited title of Africanus. 

Rebuilding Carthagre. 

Hannibal, not long after the misfortune of Zama, had become 
praetor of his humbled republic, and employed his incomparable 



32 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

talents in effecting some domestic reforms. No greater encomium 
could be pronounced upon him than the undying apprehension and 
vigilance with which his adversaries, both home and abroad, watched 
his words and actions. Many deeply-rooted abuses had crept into 
the Carthaginian government ; while the nobility, who throve on them, 
abhorred the reproofs of a general cast down from his high estate ; 
and at length hunted him into exile, with the base connivance, and at 
the probable instigation of Rome in the very altitude of^her glory. 
He betook himself to the court of Antiochus, whither Thoas the 
i^tolian had also repaired, in a spirit of discontent with the senate 
and consuls ; these functionaries not having sufficiently estimated or 
rewarded, as he thought, his services against the Macedonian mon- 
archy. As a profound politician, he pointed out to the descendant of 
Seleucus, that if the tide of Italian ascendency were not arrested at 
the present crisis, the victorious Roman republic would rapidly over- 
whelm Asia. The suggestion came before a shallow and imperious 
mind, accustomed to consider orientalism as an emanation of the di- 
vinity existing for the protection of kings : and Hannibal was on the 
spot to support every specious argument. 

Antiochus, now and then styled in history the Great, was slum- 
bering moreover under the laurels of his earlier years, in a capital 
founded for his dynasty, where voluptuousness knew no limits, and 
where dreams of invincibility might be almost naturally indulged on 
the part of a mighty eastern potentate, acknowledged from the Troas 
to the Caucasus, with Media, Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia, alto- 
gether some of the fairest portions of the earth, crouching beneath 
his sceptre. Crowned with garlands, surrounded with eunuchs, amidst 
the music of flutes and lyres, the sultan of 400,000 men in arms with 
condescension listened to the bravest and wisest among soldiers and 
sages ; believing them when they flattered his ambition, and scorning 
the only counsels which could enable him to realize it. In pavilions 
of silk and purple, or upon an elephant covered with scarlet and 
gold, he expected after a pompous declaration of war to trample in 
the dust those legions and leaders whom neither Macedon nor Car. 
thage had withstood. Acilius Glabric and Scipio Africanus had slight 



11 




!#* 



?'»S: 



IW* 




1 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 2>Z 

difficulty, after the action of Thermopylae in Europe and that of Mag- 
nesia in Asia, in compelling him to purchase an ignominious peace 
at the price of all his territories to the westward of Mount Taurus, 
and the surrender of half his navy. Their ally, Eumenes, the king of 
Pergamus, was presented with the greater share of these conquests, 
B. c. 190; after having chastised in Galatia the ferocity of those 
Gauls whose progenitors a century before had terrified the interior 
of Macedonia. Antiochus had to defray the whole expenses of the 
war, and consent to pay besides an annual tribute of one or two 
thousand talents for twelve years. Hannibal and Thoas were also 
to be given up ; but both withdrew, and the former found a wretched 
refuge with Prusias, the sovereign of Bithynia. His stratagems, how- 
ever, enabled that prince to defeat Eumenes once at sea, and twice 
on land : yet Prusias would have yielded his benefactor to the Ro- 
mans, if he had not poisoned himself. 

The Last Struggle. 

The third Punic war at length approached : when the influence 
of Italy had overawed Greece, Thessaly, all the various regions to 
the Bosphorus, the islands of the Adriatic, the coasts of the rebellious 
Istria, as well as the empires of Egypt and the East. Civil dissen- 
sions, the sure forerunners of national dissolution, ran high at Car- 
thage. Forty senators, driven from that city, besought the venerable 
Masinissa, at that time ninety-six years of age, to effect their res- 
toration. His interference was spurned by the dominant faction, 
since he had ever been the faithful partisan of their conquerors ; and 
when the affair was referred to the latter, the Romans at once gave 
their decision in accordance with the wishes of the Numidian, His 
own interests and influence, beneath the shadow of their patronage, 
had immensely increased among the tribes of the desert ; over whom 
several of his forty-four warlike sons reigned with absolute authority. 
Intercourse with Europe had also taught him much with regard to 
the science and importance of agriculture ; so that various wastes, 
apparently condemned to perpetual sterility, now developed a rich 
and extensive system of husbandry, probably through improved 
means of irrigation. 



34 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

The commercial predilections of Carthage were thus interrupted, 
either in reality or by anticipation, from the jealous, watchful, and 
suspicious ambition of this inconvenient neighbor ; to say nothing of 
the rivalry and occasional hostilities which actuated and harassed 
their mutual caravans coming across each other, sometimes in the 
distant halting-places of the interior. The prostrated metropolis of 
Africa, moreover, as her spirit revived, had commenced the con- 
struction of vessels rather beyond the strict and stern limitations of 
the last humiliating treaty ; a circumstance sure to be reported at 
Rome in no very amicable manner by Masinissa. 

Carthago Delenda Est. 

Cato the elder, far advanced in years, and full of anti-Punic 
prejudices, imbibed in his Sardinian praetorship and Spanish pro- 
consulate, was at that time a sort of oracle on the Seven Hills, where 
the recollections of the terrible Hannibal remained as vivid in his 
own mind as in those of the more elderly among his hearers. It was 
an assertion perpetually on his lips that Carthage ought to be de- 
stroyed ; notwithstanding the opposition of the Scipios, whose pro- 
founder judgment predicted the corruption of their country, from the 
moment when there should cease to be any boundary to its aspirations, 
or possible source for its fears. Public opinion had, therefore, 
reached a considerable state of effervescence upon the subject of 
African politics in general, when Masinissa appealed to the senate 
against his opponents. The pretext suggested by their old and con- 
stant ally found favor with the majority everywhere for annihilating 
forthwith their once formidable rival, ready to rise up and regain her 
former potency, as it seemed, unless the present opportunity should 
be seized of crushinor her forever. 

It was resolved to proceed at last to the utmost extremities, and 
that without further delay. Every ship that had been built contrary 
to stipulation was now demanded, and given up amidst groans and 
indignation ; inflamed almost to madness, as these sensations be- 
came, when the surrendered galleys were openly burnt in the harbor 
by the commissioners sent to receive them. The inhabitants of the 
mortified capital were then ordered to withdraw some leagues from 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 35 

the coast, and found a new city inland, at a certain distance from 
their native and paternal homes. 

Human nature could bear no more ; desperation supplanted 
prudence ; resolutions to resist were universal ; each member of the 
council swore that he would perish with Carthage, except one of the 
Suffetes, who, on hinting the omnipotence of destiny, was stoned 
immediately on the spot. From that hour any pause in their exer- 
tions was unknown. The instant object was to replace the lost 
navy ; all the timber that could be collected was brought to the 
dockyards ; all metals, noble and ignoble, holy or profane, were 
melted down for the manufacture of arms ; even the women cut off 
their long hair for bowstrings and cordage ; all ages, ranks, and 
sexes shared the dreadful danger ; and for three years these devoted 
defenders of their country defied the domination of its assailants. 
More than once were the leg^ions defeated ; two walls were taken, 
and yet the besieged braved an assault from behind the third ; the 
haven was lost at last ; and no sooner were the citizens aware of it 
than they began to dig a new one. It became a death-struggle, in 
other words, between vengeance and despair ; and the star of the 
younger Scipio alone it was which ultimately triumphed. 

The Final Scene. 

By an ingenious stratagem he secured the recently constructed 
harbor ; while the city, thus laid open and defenceless, still waged 
the gory and hopeless warfare nearly a week longer. Insurrection 
at last inflamed the horrors of resistance ; certain partisans declared 
for the besiegers ; and whole streets of houses were set on fire by 
their obstinate owners. Hasdrubal, at the end of another interval, 
went over to the enemy ; upon which his consort kindled some 
prepared combustibles in their palace, throwing herself, with two of 
their children, amid loud cries of malediction, into the enormous 
furnace of its flames. Many citizens slew themselves on the graves 
and mausoleums of their forefathers ; as mansions, monuments, and 
magnificent temples, illuminated the firmament for seventeen days. 
Such was the funeral pyre of expiring Carthage, or at least the capi- 
tal of Dido, with its 700,000 people, and the associations of a mil- 



36 THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

lennium of years, b. c. 147. When Scipio beheld the conflagra- 
tion and carnage, he wept, as well he might, over a fallen foe, with 
tears of generosity, and sympathy, and melancholy prophecy. The 
metropolis of Africa was never again to rise from its tomb in the 
character of a permanently independent state. It is- conjectured 
that not a few of its survivors may have escaped to the banks of the 
Niger, and settled on the site of Timbuctoo ; but the vast bulk of 
the population must have been either massacred, or sold into cap- 
tivity, or reduced with the adjacent provinces under the Roman 
yoke. 

Caesar and Pompey. 

Egypt again played a conspicuous part in history in the days of 
Julius Caesar and his immediate successors. Caesar was in Egypt 
when the head of his murdered rival, the great Pompey, was present- 
ed to him. It was in Egypt that the degenerate king, Ptolemy, 
whose father had been indebted to Pompey for the throne, had basely 
connived at an assassination of the great Roman, in the very presence 
of his virtuous consort, Cornelia. Caesar, indeed, remained far too 
long in that country, entranced by the wiles of Cleopatra, who had a 
couple of children by him. In a tumult at Alexandria, originating 
from his base partiality for the fascinating queen, against h^r brother, 
he narrowly escaped destruction by throwing himself into the sea 
and swimming off to vessel. He avenged his peril, however, in the 
next battle, by severely chastising the Egyptians : the last of their 
degenerate Ptolemies lost his life in the waters, and Caesar bestowed 
the whole kingdom on his paramour, Cleopatra. 

Antony and Cleopatra. 

Cleopatra in turn enslaved Mark Antony, and then, with artful 
ingenuity, Octavius appealed to the Roman republic whether the 
forms of the ancient constitution were to be preserved, or to be laid 
on the lap of a degenerate daughter of the Ptolemies ? He pro- 
ceeded to Greece with eight of his best legions, five cohorts, and an 
admirable fleet of 250 vessels, under the guidance of Agrippa, an 
officer of experience and ability. The engagement occurred near 



THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 37 

the Cape of Actlum on the coast of Epirus, B. c. 31 : the ships of 
Antony were larger and much more numerous than those of his 
rival ; but Agrippa had recently defeated the younger Pompey, and 
made many ports and harbors withhold their supplies from the 
oriental squadrons. At the very crisis of the conflict Cleopatra fled 
through fright, with many of her galleys ; while her love-stricken 
admirer had the folly to abandon the brave adherents of his worth- 
less cause, and almost immediately follow her. From that hour the 
real struggle was over. Most of the sea and land forces under the 
banners of the Egyptian queen and her favorite triumvir ranged 
themselves with the victorius party. On the banks of the Nile the 
curtain of infamy dropped over the tragical drama. Octavius coolly 
acquired, one by one, each object of his early ambition, except the 
mere living person of the beautiful sovereign, with which he had 
wished to grace his triumph. Antony, at a false report of her death, 
had thrown himself upon his sword ; finding, however, that she was 
yet alive, and his own existence not quite extinct, he begged to be 
brought into her presence, that he might expire in her embraces ; 
which happened accordingly. Cleopatra no sooner perceived that 
she failed in producing amatory impressions upon her conqueror 
than she poisoned herself, either by the bite of a small serpent or 
the prick of a medicated needle, b. c. 29. The realms of the 
ancient Pharaohs subsided into subject provinces ; the second of the 
Caesars obtained the title of Augustus, the revered, inviolable, sole 
and absolute ruler of the whole Roman world. 

Egypt shared the fate of that empire. For a time it was 
prosperous. Then it fell into decay, and became an easy prey to 
the invading Goths and Vandals. After them, ''the deluge." The 
wonderful realm relapsed into semi-barbarism, and for a time night 
settled down upon the Dark Continent. 



CHAPTER II 



The Mohammedan Invasion and Colonization of Africa— The Mo- 
hammedan Invasion— Mohammedan Colonization— The Coming of 
the Portuguese— War in Morocco— Henry the Navigator— Explora- 
tions and Conquests— Trade in Slaves and Gold— Vasco Da 
Gama— Prester John's Kingdom— The West Coast and the 
Congo— The Kingdom of Congo— On the East Coast— Advent 
of the Dutch in Africa — Foundation of Cape Colony- 
Trouble with the Natives— French Huguenots at the 
Cape— Growth of the Colony— Trouble with the Kaffirs 
—A Bankrupt Colony— British Seizure and Annexation 
-Story of South Africa. 



WHILE the events related in the preceding chapter were 
taking place in Northern Africa, and perhaps even before 
they began, peoples of Malay or Polynesian stock had been 
drifting across the Malay archipelago to Madagascar, carried 
thither by prevailing currents. These Malays — found purest in the 
modern Hovas — wrested Madagascar from the black man, whom 
they absorbed or exterminated, and henceforth they remained as 
the dominant race, to be subdued latterly, though not perhaps to 
be extinguished, by one of Rome's daughters. 

In the fifth century of the present era came the abrupt invasion 
of North Africa by the Vandals, a Gothic people supposed to be not 
far off in their origin from the Anglo-Saxons. Roman hold over North 
Africa, though infinitely more complete and extensive than that of 
Carthage, had never succeeded during more than five centuries in 
completely subduing the Berbers, who still formed the bulk of the 
indigenous population. The independent Berbers were always 
ready to side with the enemies of Rome, and their adhesion made 
the Vandal conquest easy and rapid ; just as their subsequent de- 
fection afterwards assisted the defeat of the demoralized Vandals by 

(38) 



tHE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 39 

the Byzantine forces, after all North Africa had been ruled by 
Teutonic kings for seventy years. 

The Mohammedan Invasion. 

The Byzantine Empire, recovering by degrees portions of the 
Western Empire, reconquered the province of Africa (modern 
Tunis), and to some extent dominated all the North African coast 
until the Mohammedan invasion. 

When the first Mohammedan invasion took place in the 7th 
century the Berbers at first sided with the Arabs, and assisted in the 
defeat of the Byzantine forces, through which action they did 
ultimately enjoy as a race several centuries of quasi-independence. 

The effect on Africa of the development of Mohammedanism 
was almost more marked in its results in Asia. Prior to the Mo- 
hammedan invasions nothing was known of Africa south of the 
Sahara which could be described as certain knowledge. A few vague 
traditions and semi-fabulous stories of Negro Africa reached and satis- 
fied Greek and Roman inquirers. But north of the tenth degree of 
north latitude the Arab invaders and missionaries cleared a roueh 
path across Africa, letting in a dubious light on its geography and 

humanity. 

Mohammedan Colonization. 

As the result of the Mohammedan invasion of Africa from 
Arabia ^ — only just brought to a close at the end of the 19th century 
— It may be stated that Arablzed Berbers ruled in North and North- 
west Africa ; Arablzed Turks ruled In North and North-east Africa ; 
Arablzed Negroes ruled on the Niger, and in the central Soudan ; 
Arabs ruled more directly on the Nile, and on the Nubian coast ; 
and the Arabs of South Arabia and of Oman governed the East 
African coast, and eventually carried their influence, and to some 
extent their rule, inland to the great central African lake and even 
to the upper Congo. 

Mohammedan colonization of Africa was the first step in the 
bringing of that part of the continent beyond the Sahara and upper 
Egypt within the cognizance of the world of civilization and history. 
The Arabs brought with them from Syria and Mesopotamia their 



40 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

architecture — " Saracenis " — which was an offshoot of the Byzantine, 
with a dash of Persian or Indian influence. This architect received 
at the hands of the Berbers and E^^yptians an extraordinarily beauti- 
ful development, and penetrated on the one hand into Spain, and 
less directly into Italy, and on the other reached the lower Niger, the 
upper Nile, the vicinity of the Zambezi, and the north coast of 
Madagascar. They spread also certain ideas of Greek medicine and 
philosophy and taught the Koran, which admitted all those Berber 
and Negro populations into that circle of civilized nations which has 
founded so much of its hopes and philosophy and culture on the 
Semitic Scriptures. And through their contact with Europeans, 
Arabs and Arabized Berbers first sketched out with some approach 
to correctness the geography of inner Africa, and of the African 
coasts and islands. The direct and immediate result of this Mo- 
hammedan conquest of Africa was the drawing into that continent 
of the Portuguese, themselves but recently emancipated from Mo- 
hammedan rule, and still retaining some conversance with Arabic ; 
who, thanks to their intimate acquaintance with Mohammedans, and 
with this far-spread language used in their commerce and religion, 
were now able to take a step further in the colonization of Africa by 
superior races. 

The Coming of the Porttiguese. 

The mother of Portugal was Galicia, that north-western prov- 
ince of the present Kingdom of Spain. It was here at any rate that 
the Portuguese language developed from a dialect of provincial 
Latin, and hence that the first expeditions started to drive the Moors 
out of that territory which subsequently became the Kingdom of 
Portugal. A large element in the populations of Galicia and of the 
northern parts of Portugal was Gothic. The Suevi settled here in 
considerable numbers, and their descendants at the present day 
show the fine tall figures, flaxen or red hair, and blue eyes so charac- 
teristic of the northern Teuton. Central Portugal is mainly of 
Latinized Iberian stock, while southern Portugal retains to this day 
a large element of Moorish blood. The northern part of Portugal 
was first wrested from the Moors by a French adventurer (Henry of 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 4I 

.»^ Burgundy) in the service of the king of Leon, and this man's son 

V became the first king of Portugal. Little by little the Moors were 
, driven southward, till at last the southernmost province of Algarve 
was conquered, and at the close of the 12th century the Moors had 
ceased to rule any longer in the Roman Lusitania. 

But the Portuguese, like the Spaniards, not content with ridding 
the Peninsula of the Moorish invaders, attempted to carry the war 
into the enemy's country, urged thereto by the irritating attacks of 
Moorish pirates. In 141 5, as already related, a Portuguese army 
landed on the coast of Morocco, and captured the citadel of Ceuta 
— the Rom.an Septa. 

War in Morocco. 

Bit by bit the Portuguese continued conquering the coast towns 
of Morocco, or building new settlements, till in the second half of 
the 1 6th century the king of Portugal was almost entitled to that 
claim over the Empire of Morocco which still asserts itself in the 
formal setting forth of his dignities. Most of these posts were 
either abandoned some years before or just after the defeat of the 
young king " Sebastiao o Desejado" — Sebastian the Desired — who 
at the age of only 23 was defeated and slain by the founder of the 
Sharifian dynasty of Morocco on the fatal field of Al Kasr-al-Kabir in 
1578. Ceuta was taken over by Spain, 1580, was garrisoned, that is, 
by Spanish soldiers ; the two or three other Morocco towns which 
remained in Portugese hands after the battle of Kasr-al-Kabir, being 
garrisoned by Portugese soldiers, reverted to the separated crown 
of Portugal in 1640. Of these Tangier was ceded to England in 
1662. Saffi was given up to the Moors in 1641, other points were 
snatched by the Moors in 1689, andMazagan was finally lost in 1770. 

Henry the Navig-ator. 

The second son of the king Dom Joao (who reigned from 1385 
to 1433) and Philippa, daughter of the English John of Gaunt, was 
named Henry (Henrique), and was subsequently known to all time 
as ''Henry the Navigator," from the interest he took in maritime 
exploration. He was present at the siege of Ceuta in 141 5, and 
after its capture was said to have inquired with much interest as to 



42 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

the condition of Morocco and of the unknown African interior, and 
to have heard from the Moors of Timbuctoo. 

On his return to Portugal he established himself on the rocky 
promontory of Sagres, and devoted himself to the encouragement of 
the exploration of the coasts of Africa. Under his direction expe- 
dition after expedition set out. 

Explorations and Conquests. 

First Cape Bojador to the south of the Morocco coast was 
doubled by Gil Eannes in 1434. In 1441-2 Antonio Gonsalvez and 
Nuno Tristam passed Cape Blanco on the Sahara coast, and reached 
the Rio d'Ouro or River of Gold, from whence they brought back 
some gold dust and ten slaves. These slaves having been sent by 
Prince Henry to Pope Martin V., the latter conferred upon Portugal 
the right of possession and sovereignty over all countries that might 
be discovered betvv^en Cape Blanco and India. In 1445 a Portuguese 
named Joao Fernandez made the first overland exploration, starting 
alone from the mouth of the Rio d'Ouro, and traveling over seven 
m.onths in the interior. In the following year the river Senegal was 
reached, and Cape Verde was doubled by Diniz Diaz, and in 1448 
the coast was explored as far as Sierra Leone. In 1446 Cadamosto 
(a Venetian in Portuguese service) discovered the Cape Verde 
Islands, and visited the rivers Senegal and Gambia, bringing back 
much information in reg^ard to Timbuctoo, the trade in eold and 
ivory with the coast, and the overland trade routes from the Niger 
to the Mediterranean. 

It is asserted by the Portugese that some years later two Por- 
tuguese envoys actually reached Timbuctoo, but the truth of this as- 
sertion is somewhat problematical, as had they done so they would 
probably have dissipated to some extent the excessive exaggerations 
regarding the w^ealth and importance of that Negro capital. In 1462, 
two years after the death of Prince Henry, Pedro Da Cintra ex- 
plored the coast as far as modern Liberia. By 1471 the whole 
Guinea coast had been followed past the Niger delta, and as far 
south as the Ogowe. 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 43 

Trade in Slaves and Gold. 

In 1448, under Prince Henry's directions, a fort had been built on 
the Bay of Arguin, to the south of Cape Blanco, and a few years 
later a Portuguese company was formed for carrying on a trade with 
the Guinea coast in slaves and gold. The first expedition sent out 
by this company resulted in the despatch of 200 Negro slaves to 
Portugal, and thenceforward the slave trade grew and prospered, 
and at first resulted in little or no misery for the slaves, who ex- 
changed a hunted, hand-to-mouth existence among savage tribes in 
Africa for relatively kind treatment and comfortable living in beauti- 
ful Portugal, where they were much in favor as house servants. In 

1 48 1 the Portuguese, who had been for some years examining the 
Gold Coast, decided to build a fort to protect their trade there. In 

1482 the fort was completed and the Portuguese flag raised in token 
of sovereignty. This strong place, for more than a hundred years 
in possession of the Portuguese, was called Sao Jorge da Mina. 

In the same year in which this first Portuguese post was estab- 
lished on the Gold Coast, exploration of the African coast was carried 
on beyond the mouth of the Ogowe by Diogo Cam, who three years 
later — in 1485 — discovered the mouth of the Congo, and sailed up 
that river about as far as Boma Diogo Cam's discoveries were 
continued by Bartolomew Diaz, who, passing along the South-west 
coast of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in stormy weather 
without knowing it, and touched land at Algoa Bay, whence, on his 
return journey, he sighted that famous cape, which King John II. 
christened "the Cape of Good Hope." 

Vasco da Gama. 

Already the Portuguese were full of the idea of rounding Africa 
and so reaching India. They had begun to hear from the Arabs, 
who were now in full possession of the East African coast, rumors 
of the circumnavigabllity of Africa. A Portuguese named Pero de 
Covllhao started for Egypt in i486, and traveled to India by way of 
the Red Sea. On his return he visited most of the Arab settle- 
ments on the East coast of Africa as far south as Sofala. The in- 
formation he brought back decided the despatch of an expedition 



44 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

under Vasco da Gama to pass around the Cape of Good Hope to 
the Arab colonies, and thence to India. 

Vasco da Gama set out in 1497 and made his famous voyage 
round the Cape (calling at and naming Natal on the way) to Sofala, 
where he picked up an Arab pilot who took him to Malindi, and 
thence to India. On his return journey, Vasco da Gama took pos- 
session of the island of Mozambique, and visited the Quelimane 
river near the mouth of the Zambezi. Numerous well-equipped 
expeditions sailed for India within the years following Vasco da Ga- 
ma's discoveries. 

While India was the main goal before the eyes of their com- 
manders, considerable attention was bestowed upon the founding of 
forts along the east coast of Africa, both to protect the Cape route 
to India, and to further Portuguese trade with the interior of Africa. 
In nearly every case the Portuguese merely supplanted the Arabs, 
who possibly themselves supplanting Phoenicians or Sabaeans, had 
established themselves at Sofala, Quelimane, Sena (on the Zambezi), 
Mozambique, Kilwa, Zanzibar, Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, and Mag- 
dishu. Sofala was taken by Pedro de Anhaya In 1505 ; Tristan 
d'Acunha captured Socotra and Lamu in 1507, in which year also 
Duarte de Mello captured and fortified Mozambique. Kilwa and 
the surrounding Arab establishments were seized between 1506 and 
1508, and a little later the remaining places already mentioned on 
the east coast of Africa were in possession of the Portuguese, who 
had also Aden on the south coast of Arabia, the island of Ormuz on 
the Persian Gulf, and various places on the coast of Oman, In- 
cluding Muskat. Pero de Covilhao had already, as has been men- 
tioned, visited the East coast of Africa (after traveling overland to 
India) before Vasco da Gama's rounding of the Cape. He then 
directed his steps to Abyssinia, of which he had heard when in Cairo. 

Prester John's Kingdom, 

Before this period of the w^orld's history, and from the time of 
the earlier crusades, a legend had grown of the existence of Prester 
John — some Christian monarch of the name of John, who ruled In 
the heart of Asia or of Africa, a bright spot In the midst of hea- 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA.. 45 

theory. The court of Prester John was located anywhere between 
Senegambia and China ; but the legend had its origin probably in 
the continued existence of Greek Christianity in Abyssinia, and to- 
wards Abyssinia several Portuguese explorers and missionaries di- 
rected their steps from the time of Pero or Pedro de Covilhao until 
the seventeenth century. Some Portuguese Jesuit missionaries 
penetrated far south of Abyssinia into countries which have only 
been since revisited by Europeans within the last few years. Portu- 
guese civilization distincdy left its mark on Abyssinia in architecture 
and in other ways. The very name which we apply to this modern 
Ethiopia is a Portuguese rendering of the Arab and Indian cant term 
for "negro" — Habesh — a word of uncertain origin. 

About this time also, the Portuguese visited the coasts of Mada- 
gascar, as will be related in the chapter dealing with that island. 
They also discovered (in 1507) the islands now known by the names 
of Reunion and Mauritius, though they made no permanent settle- 
ments on either. 

The West Coast and the Congo. 

On the West coast of Africa geographical discovery was soon 
followed by. something like colonization. The island of Madeira, 
which had been known to the Portuguese in the fourteenth century, 
was occupied by them in the fifteenth, and a hundred years after- 
wards was already producing a supply of that wine 'which has made 
it so justly famous. The island of St. Helena — afterwards to be 
seized by the Dutch and taken from them by the English East India 
Company — was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, and this 
island also, at the end of a century of intermittent use by the Portu- 
guese, possessed orange groves and fig trees which they had planted. 

When Diego Cam returned from the Congo in 1485 he brought 
back with him a few Congo natives, who were baptized, and who 
returned some years later to the Congo with Diego Cam and a large 
number of proselytizing priests. This Portuguese expedition arrived 
at the mouth of the Congo in 1491, and there encountered a vassal 
chief of the king of the Congo who ruled the riverain province of 
Sonyo. This chief received them with a respect due to demi-gods, and 



46 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

allowed himself to be at once converted to Christianity — a conver- 
sion which was sincere and durable. The Portuguese proceeded 
under his guidance to the king's capital about two hundred miles 
from the coast, which they named Sao Salvador. Here the king 
and queen were baptized with the names of the then king and queen 
of Portugal, Joao and Leonora, while the crown Prince was called 
Affonso. Christianity made surprising progress amongst those 
fetish worshipers, who readily transferred their adoration to the 
Virgin Mary and the saints, and discarded their Indigenous male and 
female gods. 

The Kingdom of Congo. 

Early In the sixteenth century the Congo kingdom was visited 
by the Bishop of Sao Thome, an island off the Guinea coast, which, 
together with the adjoining Prince's Island, had been settled by the 
Portuguese soon after their discovery of the West coast of Africa. 
The Bishop of Sao Thome being unable to take up his residence 
in the kingdom of Congo procured the consecration of a native 
Negro as Bishop of the Congo. This man, who was a member of 
the Congo royal family, had been educated In Lisbon, and w^as, I 
believe, the first Negro bishop known to history. But he was not a 
great success, nor was the next bishop, in whose reign in the middle 
of the sixteenth century great dissensions arose in the Congo church 
among the native priesthood, which led to a considerable lessening 
of Christian fervor. After the death of Dom Diego a civil war broke 
out, and one by one the males of the royal house were all killed 
except " Dom Henrique," the king's brother. This latter also died 
soon after succeeding to the throne, and left the state to his son, 
*' Dom Alvares." 

During this civil war many of the Portuguese whom the kings 
of Congo had invited to settle in the country as teachers, mechanics, 
and craftsmen were killed or expelled as the cause of the troubles 
which European intervention had brought on the Congo kingdom. 
But Dom Alvares, who was an enlightened man, gathered all that re- 
mained, and for a time Portuguese civilization continued to advance 
over the country. But a great stumbling-block had arisen In the way 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA, 47 

of Christianity being accepted by the bulk of the people — that 
stumbling block which is still discussed at every Missionary con- 
ference — polygamy. A relation of the king Dom Alvares renounced 
Christianity and headed a reactionary party. Curiously enough 
he was handed down to history as Bula Matadi, "the Breaker of 
Stones," the name which more than three hundred years afterwards 
was applied to the explorer Stanley by the Congo peoples, and has 
since become the native name for the whole of the government of 
the Congo Free State. 

On the East Coast. 

On the East coast of Africa Portuguese colonization did not com- 
mence until the i6th century had begun, and Vasco da Gama, after 
rounding the Cape, had revealed the existence of old Arab trading 
settlements and sultanates between Sofala and Somaliland. 

The need of ports of call on the long voyage to India caused the 
Portuguese to decide soon after Vasco da Gama's famous voyage to 
possess themselves of these Arab settlements, the more so because 
hostilities against the " Moors" were a never-ending vendetta on the 
part of a Spaniard or Portuguese, while the conquest was at that 
date an easy one, as the Portuguese had artillery and the East African 
Arabs had none. 

By 1520 the Portuguese had ousted the Arabs and occupied In 
their stead Kllwa, Zanzibar, Pemba, Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi, 
Brava (Barawa), and Magdishu (Magadoxo),all north oftheRuvuma 
river. South of that river they had taken Sofala and Mozambique. 
Here they had, It Is said, established a trading station In 1503, 
but Mozambique island was not finally occupied by them till 1507, 
when the existing fortress was commenced and built by Duarte de 
Mello. The fort was then and is still known as " the Praca de Sao 
Sebastlao." It had been decided before this that Mozambique should 
be the principal place of call, after leaving the Cape of Good Hope, 
for the Portuguese ships on their way to India; but when In 1505 
the Portuguese deliberately sanctioned the idea of a Portuguese 
East African colony, they turned their attention rather to Sofala as 
its centre than to Mozambique. Sofala, which is near the modern 



48 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

Beira, was an old Arab port and sultanate, and had been for some 
1500 years the principal port on the South-east of Africa, from which 
the gold obtained in the mines of Manika was shipped to the Red 
Sea and the Persian Gulf. Consequently the first proposed Portu- 
guese settlement on the East Coast of Africa was entitled "the Cap- 
taincy of Sofala." But later on Mozambique grew in importance, 
and eventually gave its name to the Portuguese possession in East 
Africa. 

Advent of the Dutch in Africa. 

The Dutch made their first trading voyage to the Guinea Coast 
in 1595, 16 years after throwing off the yoke of Spain. On the 
plea of warring with the Spanish Empire, which then included 
Portugal, they displaced the latter power at various places along the 
West coast of Africa — at Arguin, at Goree (purchased from the 
natives, 162 1), Elmina (1637), and at Sao Paulo de Loanda about 
the same time ; while they also threatened Mozambique on the East 
coast, and possessed themselves of the island of Mauritius, which 
had been a place of call for Portuguese ships. On the West coast 
of Africa, besides supplanting the Portuguese, the Dutch established 
themselves strongly on the Gold Coast by means of sixteen new forts 
of their own, in most cases alongside Britishsettlements, which were 
regarded by the Dutch with the keenest jealousy. 

Dutch hold on the Gold Coast produced an impression in the 
shape of a race of Dutch half-castes, which endures to this day, and 
furnishes useful employes to the British Government in many minor 
capacities. But after the abolition of the slave trade Dutch com- 
merce with the Guinea Coast began to wane, and their political 
influence disappeared also: so that by 1872 the last of the Dutch 
ports had been transferred to Great Britain in return for the ces- 
sion on our part of rights we possessed over Sumatra. Meantime 
Dutch trade had begun to take firm holdover the Congo and Angola 
Coast, and it is possible that, had the cession of the Gold Coast forts 
been delayed a few years longer, it would never have been made, 
for Holland possesses a considerable trade with Africa, and there 
has been a strong feeling of regret in the Netherlands for some 













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Cr i^Ak 



'- >f 









■-^^P'' 




■slffi ai'^&mmmmimsmm 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 49 

time past at the exclusion of that country's flag from the African 

continent. 

Foundation of Cape Colony. 

But a far more important colonization than a foothold on the 
slave-trade coast was made indirectly for Holland in the middle of 
the seventeenth century. The Dutch East India Company, desirous 
of making the Cape of Good Hope something more than a port of 
call, which might fall into the hands of Portugal, France, England, 
or any other rival, decided to occupy that important station. The 
Dutch had taken possession of St. Helena in 1645, but a Dutch 
ship having been wrecked at Table Bay in 1648, the crew landed, 
and encamped where Cape Town now stands. Here they were 
obliged to live for five months, until picked up by other Dutch ships ; 
but during this period they sowed and reaped grain, and obtained 
plenty of meat from the natives, with whom they were on good terms. 
The favorable report they gave of this country on their return to 
Holland decided the Dutch Company, after years of hesitation, to 
take possession of Table Bay. An expedition was sent out under 
Jan van Riebeek, a ship's surgeon, who had already visited South 
Africa. The three ships of Van Riebeek's expedition reached Table 
Bay on the 6th of April, 1652. 

At different periods in the early part of the sixteenth century 
the Dutch had consolidated their sea-going ventures into two great 
chartered companies— the Dutch Company of the West Indies, and 
the Dutch Company of the East Indies. The West Indian Company 
took over all the settlements on the West Coast of Africa, and had 
the monopoly of trade or rule along all the Atlantic Coast of tropi- 
cal America. The East India Company was to possess the like 
monopoly from the Pacific Coast of South America across the Indian 
Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. The headquarters of the East 
India Company, where their Governor-General and Council were 
established, was at Batavia, in the island of Java. 

Trouble with the Natives. 

It was not at first intended to establish anything like a colony 
in South Africa — merely a secure place of call for the ships engaged 
4 



50 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

in the East Indian trade. But circumstances proved too stron^^ for 
tliis modest reserve. The inevitable quarrel arose between the 
Dutch garrison at Table Bay and the surrounding Hottentots. At 
the time of the Dutch settlement of the Cape all the South-west 
corner of Africa was inhabited only and sparsely by Hottentots and 
Bushm.en ; the prolific Bantu Negroes not coming nearer to the 
Dutch than the vicmity of Algoa Bay. A little war occurred with the 
Hottentots in 1659, as a result of which the Dutch first won by 
fighting, and subsequently bought, a small coast strip of land from 
Saldanha Bay on the north to False Bay on the south, thus securing 
the peninsula which terminates at the Cape of Good Hope. French 
sailing vessels were in the habit of calling at Saldanha Bay, and in 
1666 and 1670 desultory attempts were made by the French to 
establish a footing there. Holland also about this time was alter- 
nately at war Vv^ith England or France, or both powers. 

Therefore, the Dutch resolved to build forts more capable of 
resisting European attack than those w^hich were sufficient to defend 
the colony against Hottentots. Still, in spite of occasional unpro- 
voked hostilities on the part of the Dutch, they were left in posses- 
sion of the Cape of Good Hope for more than a hundred years. 

French Huguenots at the Cape. 

In 1685, Louis XIV. unwittingly dealt a fearful blow to France 
in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which resulted in thousands 
of French Protestants emigrating to other countries where they 
might enjoy freedom of religion. The Protestant Dutch sympathized 
with the homeless Huguenots, and the Netherlands Company de- 
cided to give free passages and grants of land to a number of 
these refugees. By 1689 nearly 200 French emigrants had been 
landed at the Cape and settled in the mountain country be- 
hind Cape Towm. Here, however, they were not allov/ed to form 
a separate community. They were scattered amongst the Dutch 
settlers, their children were taught Dutch, and in a few years they 
were thoroughly absorbed in the Dutch community ; though they 
have left ineffaceable traces of their presence in the many French 
surnames to be met with amongst the South African Dutch at the 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 5 I 

present day (always pronounced however in the Dutch way), and in 
the dark eyes, dark hair, and handsome features of the better type 
of Frenchman. Handsomer men and women than are some of the 
Afrikanders it would be impossible to meet with, but this personal 
beauty Is almost invariably traceable to Huguenot ancestry. 

The French settlers taught the Dutch improved methods of 
growing corn and wine, and altogether more scientific agriculture. 
Towards the latter end of the seventeenth century the Dutch 
introduced the oak tree into the Cape Peninsula and the suburbs of 
Cape Town, where it is now such a handsome and prominent feature. 
All this time the Hottentots gave almost no trouble. They were 
employed here and there as servants ; but they attempted no insur- 
rection against the European settlers, though they quarrelled very 
much amongst themselves. In 1713 large numbers of them were 
exterminated by an epidemic of smallpox. The Dutch had not yet 
come into contact with the so-called Kaffirs. 

Growth of the Colony. 

In 1770 the total European population in Cape Colony was 
nearly 10,000, of whom more than 8000 were free colonists, and 
the remainder "servants" and employes of the Company. All 
this time, although the prosperity of the Cape increased and its 
export of wheat, wine, and live-stock progressed satisfactorily, the 
revenue invariably failed to meet the expenditure, and if other 
events had not occurred the Dutch Company must soon have 
been compelled by bankruptcy to transfer the administration of the 
Cape to other hands. But towards the close of the eighteenth 
century, the Dutch, too weak to resist the influence of France and 
Russia, were showing veiled hostility towards England, with the 
result that England — which on the other hand was secretly longing 
to possess the Cape, owing to the development of the British Em- 
pire in India — declared war against the Netherlands at the end of 
1780. 

In 1 78 1 a British fleet under Commodore Johnstone left Eng- 
land for the Cape of Good Hope with 3000 troops on board. John- 
Stone, however, from storms and other reasons not so apparent, but 



52 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

possibly due to a certain indecision of mind, delayed his fleet at 
Porto Praya, in the Cape Verde Islands, and news of the expedition 
having been treacherously imparted to France by persons in Eng- 
land who were in her pay, Admiral Suffren — one of the greatest of 
seamen — surprised the British fleet at the Cape Verde Islands with 
a squadron of inferior strength, and gave it such a sound drubbing 
that Johnstone was delayed for several months in reaching Cape 
Town, where the French had preceded him, and had landed suffi- 
cient men to make a British attack on Cape Town of doubtful suc- 
cess. Johnstone, therefore, contented himself in a not very credita- 
ble way with destroying the unarmed Dutch shipping in the port, 
and then left Cape Town without effecting a landing. 

The result was the garrisoning of Cape Town by a French regi- 
ment for two more years, during which time, however, another at- 
tempt was made by the British to seize the Cape, which was nearly 
successful. During this war, however, England apparently made 
up her mind that the possession of the Cape of Good Hope and of 
Trincomalee in Ceylon was necessary to the w^elfare of her Indian 
possessions, and did not lose sight of this policy when the next legit- 
imate opportunity presented itself to make war upon Holland. On 
the other hand, the French, though they withdrew their troops in 
1783, were equally alive to the importance of the Cape, and in the 
great duel which was to take place between the two nations it is 
tolerably certain that South Africa would never have remained in 
the hands of the Dutch ; if it had not become English it would 
have been taken and kept by the French. 

Trouble with the Kaffirs. 

About this time the Dutch came into conflict with the Kaffirs. 
This vanguard of the great Bantu race had been invading southern 
Africa almost concurrently with the white people. Coming from the 
North-east and North they had, we may guess, crossed the Zam- 
bezi about the commencement of the Christian Era, and their inva- 
sion had brought about the partial destruction and abandonment of 
the Sabaean or Arab settlements in the gold-mining districts of South- 
east Africa. The Semidc inhabitants of Zimbabwe and other min- 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 53 

ing centres had been driven back to the coast at Sofala. The pro- 
gress of the black Bantu against the now more concentrated Hot- 
tentots and Bushmen was then somewhat slower, delayed no doubt 
by natural obstacles, by the desperate defence of the Hottentots, 
the tracts of waterless country on the west, and internecine warfare 
amongst themselves. Overlaying the first three divisions of Bantu 
invaders came down across the Zambezi from the districts of Tan- 
ganyika the great Zulu race, akin to the Makalaka and Bechuana 
people who had preceded them, but less mixed with Hottentot 
blood, and speaking a less corrupted Bantu language. By the be- 
ginning of the eighteenth century this seventh wave, as one may 
call it, of Bantu invasion had swept as far south as the Great Kei 
River, and some years later had pushed the Hottentots back to the 
Great Fish River. In 1778 they came into direct contact with the 
Dutch, and the Governor of the Cape entered into an agreement 
with the Kaffir chiefs that the Great Fish River should be the bound- 
ary between Dutch rule and Kaffir settlement. Nevertheless, this 
agreement was soon transgressed by the Kaffirs, who commenced 
raiding the Dutch settlers. In 1781 the first Kaffir war ended dis- 
astrously for the Bantu invaders, who were driven back for a time 
to the Kei River. Eight years later they again invaded Cape Colony. 
A foolish policy of conciliation was adopted, which ended by the 
Kaffirs being allowed to settle on the Dutch side of the Great Fish 
River in 1789. 

A Bankrupt Colony. 

In 1 790 the Netherlands East India Company was practically 
bankrupt, and in the following year (when it was computed that the 
European population of the Cape numbered 14,600 persons, own- 
ing 17,000 slaves) the Dutch Governor was recalled to Europe, and 
the country was for a year left in a state of administrative chaos, 
until two Commissioners, sent out by the States General, arrived 
and took over the government. But the next year these Commis- 
sioners went on to Batavia, and the Burghers of the interior dis- 
tricts became so dissatisfied with the mismanagement of affairs that 
they expelled their magistrates and took the administration of their 



54 'rHE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

districts into their own hands, calhng themselves "Nationals," and 
becoming to some degree infected with the spirit of the French 
Revolution. 

Meantime, in the same year, 1793, the Dutch Government had 
joined England and Prussia in making war upon France. Two 
years afterwards, in 1795, the French troops had occupied Holland, 
and had turned it into the Batavian Republic, a state in alliance with 
France. The Prince of Orange, hereditary Stadhouder of the 
Netherlands, had fled to England, and in the spring of 1795 he 
authorized the British Government to occupy Cape Colony on behalf 
of the States General in order to obviate its seizure by the French. 

British Seizure and Annexation. 

In June, 1795, a British fleet carrying troops commanded by 
General Craig arrived at False Bay. The Dutch were not very 
willing to surrender Cape Town at the first demand, even though 
the interior of the country was in revolt against the company. Both 
the officer administering the Company's Government and the dissat- 
isfied Burghers sank their differences in opposition to the landing 
of the British. The latter were anxious to avoid hostilities, and, 
therefore, spent a month in negotiations, but on the 14th of July the 
British forcibly occupied Simon Town, and three weeks later drove 
the Dutch from a position they had taken up near Cape Town. In 
September 3000 more troops arrived under General Clarke, and in 
the middle of that month marched on Cape Town from the South- 
east. A capitulation was finally arranged after an attack and a 
defence which had been half-hearted. Thenceforth for eight years 
the English occupied Cape Town and administered the adjoining 
colony. At first their rule was military, just and satisfactory; after- 
wards when a civilian governor was sent out a system of corruption 
and favoritism was introduced which caused much dissatisfaction. 
The British also had made it known that they only held the colony 
in trust for the Stadhouder, and this made the Dutch settlers uncer- 
tain as to their alleeiance. 

Meantime, however, the British administration gave some satis- 
faction to the settlers by its policy of free trade and open markets, 



THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 55 

and by certain reliefs in taxation ; also by the institution of a Burgher 
Senate of six members. But the Boers of the interior remained 
for some time recalcitrant. The Dutch, however, made an attempt 
to regain possession of the Cape by despatching a fleet of nine 
ships with 2000 men on board, which, however, was made to sur- 
render at Saldanha Bay by Admiral Elphinstone and General Craig 
without firing a shot. Kaffir raids recommenced, and the British 
having organized a Hottentot corps of police, the other Hottentots 
who were serfs to the Dutch rose in insurrection. 

When in 1803 the British evacuated Cape Town they did not 
leave the colony in a sufficiently satisfactory condition to encourage 
the Dutch settlers to hope for British rule. From 1S03 to 1806 
the Dutch Government ruled Cape Colony as a colony, and not as 
the appendage of a chartered company, w^hich had now disappeared. 
The Cape ceased to be subordinate to Batavia, and possessed a 
Governor and Council of its own. A check was placed on the 
importation of slaves, and European immigration was encouraged. 
Postal communication and the administration of justice were organ- 
ized or improved. In fact, the Commissioner-General De Mist and 
Governor Janssens, in the two years and nine months of their rule, 
laid the foundations of an excellent system of colonial government. 
But the march of events was too strong for them. 

The great minister Pitt, in the summer of 1805, secretly organ- 
ized an expedition which should carry nearly 7000 troops to seize 
the Cape. In spite of delays and storms, this f]eet reached Table 
Bay at the beginning of January, 1806. Six British regiments were 
landed eighteen miles north of Cape Town. Governor Janssens 
went out to meet them with such poor forces as he could gather 
together — 2000 in all against 4000 British. The result of course 
was disastrous to the Dutch, whose soldiers mainly consisted of 
half-hearted German mercenaries. On the i6th of January, Cape 
Town surrendered, and after some futile resistance by Janssens in 
the interior, a capitulation was signed on January i8th, and Janssens 
and the Dutch soldiers were sent back to the Netherlands by the 
British Government. 



56 THE MOHAMMEDAN INVASION AND COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. 

By a Convention dated August 13, 18 14, the Dutch Govern- 
ment with the Prince of Orange at its head ceded Cape Colony and 
the American possession of Demerara to Great Britain against the 
payment of ^6,000,000, which was made either by the actual ten- 
dering of money to the Dutch Government, or the wiping off of 
Dutch debts. 

Story of South Africa. 

Henceforth our narrative must chiefly concern itself with the 
fortunes of South Africa, to wit, Cape Colony and its various off- 
shoots. The history of the rest of the continent is full of interest. 
The adventures of Stanley, the heroism of Gordon, the engineering 
genius of De Lesseps, the resolute mastership of Kitchener, the 
empire-building achievements of Sir George Goldie, the foundation 
of the Great Congo Free State, the Negro Republic of Liberia — 
these and a thousand other topics are of fascinating interest. But 
each of them might well command a whole volume. Our present 
purpose is to relate the story of the southern part of the continent. 

We have outlined the early history and the later re-discoveries 
of the whole continent. We have shown how the southern states 
were founded in embryo, first by the Portuguese, then by the Dutch, 
finally by the English. Let us now confine our attention chiefly to 
their further development, and to the climax of their history which 
the present war implies. 



CHAPTER HI 



Early Explorers of the Dark Continent— Early Explorers— Greeks 
and Romans— Ptolemy— Portuguese Explorers— Exploring South 
Africa— British Adventurers— Seeking the Source of the Nile— 
Tlmbuctoo— Mungo Park— Dutch Settlements— Portuguese 
Activities — The British in South Africa — Congo and 
Niger— French Explorers— The Sahara and Soudan- 
Lander's Work in Nigeria— Borrioboola-Gha — 
British Enterprise— Barth's Great Work. 



THE colonization of Africa in all its earlier stages is so closely 
akin to exploration that we may seem to deal rather with 
geographical discoveries than with political settlement. But 
as there is much exploring work which has not been directly 
connected with colonization, just as all missionary work has not re- 
sulted in the foundation of European states in Africa, nor have 
measures for the suppression of the slave trade invariably given 
rise to annexation, it will be well to devote a chapter to the enumer- 
ation of great explorers whose work proved to be an indirect cause 
of the ultimate European control now established over nearly all 
Africa. 

Early Explorers. 

The first explorers known to history, though not, unfortunately, 
mentioned by name, were those Phoenicians despatched by the 
Egyptian Pharaoh Necho (son of Psammetik) about 600 b. c. to 
circumnavigate Africa. We receive our knowledge through Herod- 
otus, who derived his information from Egypt ; but the account 
given of the voyage bears the stamp of veracity and probability. 

Cambyses, the Persian king who invaded Egypt in 525 b. c, is 
said to have lost his life in endeavoring to trace the course of the 
Nile, he and his army having disappeared in the deserts of Upper 
Nubia. About 520 b. c, Hanno, the Carthaginian, conducted an 

{57) 



58 EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

expedition round the West coast of Africa, which penetrated about 
as far South as the confines of Liberia. 

Greeks and Romans. 

The Greek historian, Herodotus, journeyed in Egypt and in the 
Cyrenaica about 450 b. c. Eratosthenes, a Greek, born at Gyrene 
in 276 B. c, became the Hbrarian of one of the Ptolemies at Alex- 
andria, and, although he derived much of his information about the 
valley of the Nile from other travellers, still he conducted a certain 
amount of exploration himself. Polybius, a Greek, born in 204 B. 
c, explored much of the North coast of Africa in the service of the 
Romans about 140 years before the Christian Era. 

The celebrated Strabo flourished during the reign of Augustus 
Caesar, and wrote a great work on geography about the year a. d., 
19. He accompanied the Roman governor ^lius Gallus on a 
journey up the Nile as far as Philae, though his knowledge of the 
Cyrenaica was limited to a journey along the coast. Nero sent two 
centurions (according to Pliny) with orders to ascend the Nile and 
discover its source. Thanks to recommendations from the king of 
Ethiopia, they were passed on from tribe to tribe, and apparently 
ascended the Nile as far as its junction with the Sobat, where they 
were stopped by immense masses of floating vegetation, called sudd. 

Though Pliny the Elder does not appear to have visited Africa, 
or at any rate to have carried his explorations farther than a trip to 
Alexandria and visits to the ports along the Barbary coast, he 
nevertheless did much to collect and edit the geographical knowl- 
edge of the day ; and has thus transmitted to our knowledge the 
slender information which the Romans possessed of interior Africa 
during the early years of the Empire. Pliny is remarkable for 
having handed down to us the first mention of the Niger, which he 
calls Nigir or Nigris and somewhat confounds with the humbler 
river Drana to the south of Morocco. 

Ptolemy. 

About the middle of the second century of the Christian Era 
there flourished in Egypt the famous geographer called Claudius 
Ptolemaeus, better known to us as " Ptolemy." Though he also 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 59 

was mainly a compiler and owed much of his information to the 
works on geography published by his predecessor or contemporary, 
Marinus of Tyre, yet it seems probable that he travelled up the Nile 
for a certain distance, and visited the African coasts along the Red 
Sea and the Mediterranean. At any rate he published the most 
extended account of African geography given by any classical writer. 
His account of the Nile lakes, of the East African coast and of the 
Sahara Desert are the nearest approach to actuality of all geogra- 
phers before the Mohammedan epoch. 

With the decline of the Roman Empire came a cessation of all 
geographical exploration, and there was no revival until the Mo- 
hammedan invaders of Africa had attained sufficient civilization to 
record their journeys and observations. Masudi and Ibn Haukal in 
the loth century, and other Arab travellers whose wanderings have 
not been recorded, furnished from their journeys information em- 
bodied in the map of Idris or Edrisi drawn up by a Sicilian Saracen 
geographer, Robert of Sicily in the 12th century. By these 
journeys the first definite and reliable information about the geog- 
raphy of Africa south of the Sahara, and along the East coast to 
Zanzibar and Sofala, was brought to European knowledge, ibn 
Batuta, a native of Morocco, in the 14th century, and Leo Africanus 
(a Spanish Moor who afterwards turned Christian,) in the i6th 
century, had visited the Niger and the regions round Lake Chad. 

Portuguese Explorers. 

The geographical enterprise of the Moors communicated itself 
to their conquerors, the Portuguese. Besides their great navigators, 
the Portuguese sent out overland explorers, the first, named Joao 
Fernandez, having in 1445 explored the Sahara Desert inland from 
the Rio d'Ouro. It is stated that Pero d'Evora and Goncalvez 
Eannes actually travelled overland in 1487 from Senegambia to 
Timbuctoo ; but doubt has been thrown on their having reached this 
distant city ; they may possibly have got as far as Jenne. Much 
more real and important were the explorations of Pero de Covilhao, 
who travelled in Abyssinia in 1490 on his return from India, and 
remained in that country for the rest of his life. 



6o EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Passing over Francisco Barreto, who explored Zambezia more 
for immediate political purposes in 1569 and subsequent years, we 
may next note the journey of a Portuguese gentleman named Jasper 
Bocarro who in 1616 made a journey overland from the central 
Zambezi, across the river Shire, near Lake Nyasa and the Ruvuma 
river, and thence to the east coast at Mikindani. From Mikindani 
he continued his journey to Malindi by sea. In the 17th century 
two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, Pedro Paez and Jeronimo Lobo, 
explored Abyssinia, even far to the south. Paez visited the source of 
the Blue Nile, and Lobo directed his travels to the quasi-Christian 
states to the south of Abyssinia. Numbers of unnamed, unremembered 
Portuguese soldiers and missionaries must have plunged into the 
interior of Africa between 1445 ^^^ ^he end of the 17th century, 
bringing back jumbled information of lakes and rivers and Negro 
states ; but their information has perished — except in an indirect 
form — and their names are lost to history. 

Exploring South Africa. 

In 1520 Andrew Battel, a fisherman of Leigh, in Essex, was 
rescued from the Indians of Brazil by a Portuguese ship, which 
started for the coast of Angola to trade for slaves. The vessel 
reached Benguela at a time when it was being ravaged by the 
predatory " Jagas." The Portuguese being obliged to leave a 
hostage with the Jagas, left Battel behind, and in the company of 
these wild people he seems to have traversed much of the Congo 
country behind Angola before he eventually reached the coast again 
near a Portuguese fort, where he was allowed by the Jagas to leave 
them and return to his own land. He appears to have roamed over 
South-west Africa for nearly eighteen years, and he brought back 
fairly truthful accounts of the pigmy races, the anthropoid apes, 
and some of the big game which penetrates the interior of Benguela 
from the south. 

British Adventurers. 

At the commencement of the 1 7th century, William Lithgow, 
a Scottish traveler, visited Tunis and Algeria. In 161 8 the London 
Company of Adventurers despatched George Thompson, who had 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 6 1 

already traveled in Barbary, to explore the river Gambia. During 
his absence up the river the ship by which he had come from Eng- 
land was seized, and the crew murdered by Portuguese and half- 
caste slave traders, who resented this invasion of their special 
domain. Thompson managed to send back word of his difficulties, 
and the Company of Adventurers sent out another small ship. 
After sending her back with letters, Thompson continued his journeys 
for a distance of about 80 miles above the mouth of the Gambia. 
Thompson, however, lost his head, became fantastic in his notions, 
and is supposed to have been killed by the natives. 

A third vessel was sent out from London, commanded by 
Richard Jobson, to inquire after Thompson's fate. His first 
voyage, though he reached the point where Thompson had dis- 
appeared, was not very successful. On his return from Graves- 
end with two ships in 1620, he sailed up the Gambia to a place 
called Kasson, where dwelt an influential Portuguese who had 
been the instigator of the destruction of his predecessor's ship. 
This man fled at Jobson's approach, and the latter continued 
on his way till he reached Tenda, where Thompson had dis- 
appeared. He then travelled in boats far above the Barraconda 
Rapids. 

Then followed the journey of Jannequin de Rochefort and his 
companions in Senegal, and the still more important explorations of 
Bruce and Campagnon in the same region. During the reign of 
King Charles II. a Dutch or Anglicized Dutch merchant, named 
Vermuyden, asserted that he had ascended the Gambia and reached 
a country beyond, full of gold, but the truth of this story is open to 
considerable suspicion. In 1723 Captain Bartholomew Stibbs, and 
later still a man named Harrison, repeated Jobson's explorations of 
the Gambia. In 1720-30 Dr. Shaw, an Englishman, traveled in 
Egypt, Algeria and Tunis, and gave the first fairly accurate ac- 
count of the Barbary States which had been received since they 
became Mohammedanized. About the same time, Sonnini, an 
Italian, explored Egypt, and gave the first modern account of that 
country. 



62 EARLY EXPLORERS OF TLIE DARK CONTINENT. 

Seeking the Source of the Nile. 

In 1768-73 James Bruce, a Scotchman of good family, who had 
been educated at Harrow, and had spent two and a half years as 
Consul at Algiers, travelled first In Tunis, Tripoli, and Syria. He 
then entered Egypt, and, becoming Interested In the Nile question, 
he voyaged down the Red Sea to Massawa, and journeyed to 
Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia. Having some knowledge of 
medicine, he found favor with the authorities, and was given a 
command In the Abyssinian cavalry. After many disappointments, 
his ardent wish was granted, and he arrived at what he believed to 
be the sources of the Nile, but which really were the head waters 
of the Blue Nile, to the south of Abyssinia. He journeyed home 
by way of Sennar and the Nubian Desert to Cairo. In 1793 William 
George Browne, a Londoner, and a member of Oriel College, 
Oxford, attracted by the accounts of Bruce's travels, entered Egypt, 
and crossed the Libyan Desert from Aslut to Darfur in 1793. 
There he was treated extremely badly by the Sultan of the country, 
and practically endured a captivity of three years before he succeeded 
in returning to Egypt. 

Timbuctoo. 

During the i8th century rumors had gradually been taking 
shape in the belief that there was a great river in Western Africa 
on whose banks stood the famous city of Timbuctoo. This river 
was Identified with Pliny's NIgrls or Niger. At first It was thought 
that the Niger was the Gambia or Senegal, but at last It was be- 
lieved that the Niger must rise southward, beyond the sources of 
these rivers, and flow to the eastward. Sir Joseph Banks, President 
of the Royal Society, who had accompanied Cook on his journey 
round the world, joined with other persons of distinction, and formed 
the African Association on the 19th of June, 1788, with the special 
object of exploring the Niger. At first they resolved to try from 
the North coast of Africa or from Egypt, but these expeditions prov- 
ing unsuccessful, an attempt was made to march into the unknown 
from Sierra Leone. Major Houghton, who had been Consul In 
Morocco, was employed amongst other travellers, and he succeeded 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CGiNTINENT. 63 

in passing through Bambuk on his way to Timbuctoo ; but he was 
intercepted by the Moors of the Sahara, robbed, and left to die 
naked in the desert. From Egypt a German traveller named 
Frederic Hornemann was despatched by the same Association. He 
reached Fezzan, set out on a journey to Bornu, and was never 
heard of afterwards. 

Mungo Park. 

In 1795 the zealous Association accepted the services of a 
young Scotch surgeon named Mungo Park, and sent him out to 
discover the Niger from the West coast. Mungo Park started at 
the age of 24, having had a previous experience in scientific ex- 
ploration as assistant surgeon on an East Indiaman, which had 
made a voyage to Sumatra. Park reached Pisania, a station high 
up the Gambia river, in 1795. He started at the end of that year, 
and after crossing the Senegal river and going through many ad- 
ventures, he entered the Moorish countries of Kaarta and Ludamar 
to the north-east. Hence, after enduring captivity and great hard- 
ships, he escaped, and gradually found his way to the Niger at Sego, 
and struggled along the river till he was within about 200 miles of 
Timbuctoo. His return journey was attended by such hardships 
that one marvels at the physical strength which brought him through 
alive. However, at last he reached Bamaku, and thence after 
almost incredible difficulties returned to Pisania on the Gambia, 
about a year and a quarter after setting out thence to discover the 
Niger. Owing to his return voyage taking him to the West Indies, 
he did not reach England till the 2 2d of December, 1797, after 
performing a journey which, even if he had not subsequently become 
the Stanley of the Niger, would have made him lastingly famous. 

London received him with enthusiasm, but after the first novelty 
had worn off a period of forgetfulness set in. Park married, and 
settled down in Peebles as a medical practitioner. But in process 
of time the influence of the African Association filtered even into 
the stony heart of a Government department, and it was resolved 
by the Colonial Office (then a branch of the War Office) to send 
Mungo Park back to continue his explorations of the Niger. He 



64 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 



was given ^5,000 for his expenses, and an ample outfit of stores 
and arms and other equipment. He held a Captain's commission, 
and was allowed to select soldiers from the garrison of Goree. He 
took his brother-in-law with him as second in command, a draughts- 
man named Scott, and several boatbuilders and carpenters. At 
Goree he selected one officer, 35 privates, and two seamen. 

The party left the Gambia in 1805. They were soon attacked 
with fever, and by the time they had reached the Niger only seven 
out of the 38 soldiers and seamen who had left Goree were living. 
Descending the Niger past Sego, Mungo Park built a rough and 
ready kind of boat at Sansanding, which he named the Joliba. By 
this time his party had been reduced to five, including himself. On 
the 1 2th of November, 1805, they set out from Sansanding (whence 
they sent back to the Gambia their letters and journals) to trace the 
Niger to its mouth. Mungo Park was never heard from any more. 
It was ascertained, by the information which could be subsequently 
gathered from native traders and slaves, that Mungo Park's party 
met with constant opposition from the natives in their descent of 
the river, with the result that they were continually fighting. After 
Mungo Park entered the Hausa-speaking countries of Sokoto the 
enmity of the natives increased, apparently because he was unable 
to pay his way with presents. At last, at Busa, where further navi- 
gation was obstructed by rocks, the natives closed in on him. 
Finding no way of escape, Park jumped into the river with Martin, 
and was drowned. After Park's death, Major Peddie, Captain 
Campbell Major Gray, and Dr. Dochard all strove to follow in 
Park's footsteps from the direction of the Gambia, but all died un- 
timely deaths from fever, though Dr. Dochard succeeded in reaching 
Sego on the Niger. 

Dutch Settlements. 

The presence of the Dutch in South Africa did not lead to great 
explorations. Such journeys as were made were chiefly parallel to 
the coast. In 1685 Commander Van der Stel explored Namaqua- 
land within a very short distance of the Orange river ; but it was 
some 60 years later before that river was actually discovered by a 



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EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 65 

Boer elephant hunter, and Its discovery made known scientifically 
by an expedition under Captain Hop in 1701. This expedition 
obtained several giraffes, which were sent home by Governor 
Tulbagh, and were the first to reach Europe. 

In 1777, Captain Robert Jacob Gordon, a Scotchman in the 
service of the Dutch East India Company, discovered the Orange 
river at its junction with the Vaal. Subsequently Captain Gordon 
with Lieutenant William Patterson, an Englishman, made a jour- 
ney overland from the Namakwa country to the » mouth of the 
Orange river, which they ascended for thirty or forty miles. 
They christened what the Dutch had hitherto called the "Great 
(Groote) river" the ''Orange river," out of compliment to the 
Stadhouder. 

There Is also a rumor that two Dutch commissioners, Truster 
and Sommerville, went on a cattle purchasing expedition in 1801 
beyond the Orange river, and penetrated through the Bechuana 
country to the vicinity of Lake Ngami. 

Portuguese Activities. 

Fired by the news of African discoveries, Portugal awoke from 
one of her secular slumbers in 1798, and despatched Dr. Francisco 
Jose Maria de Lacerda to the Zambesi, to attempt a journey across 
Africa from east to west. The results of this first really scientific 
exploration of Central Africa has been touched on in Chapter II. 
It may be sufficient to mention here that Dr. de Lacerda travelled 
up the Zambesi to Tete, and from Tete, north-westwards, to the 
vicinity of Lake Mweru, near the shores of which he died. He had 
been preceded by two Goanese of the name of Pereira. 

In the beginning of the present century two half-caste Portu- 
guese named Baptista and Amaro Jose crossed Africa from the 
Kwango river, behind Angola, to Tete on the Zambesi. In 1831 
Major Monteiro and Captain Gamitto repeated Dr. de Lacerda's 
journey from Tete to the Kazembe's country, near Lake Mweru, 
and In 1846 a Portuguese merchant at Tete named Candido de 
Costa Cardoso, claimed to have sighted the south-west corner of 
Lake Maravi (Nyasa). 
5 



56 EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

The British in South Africa. 

To return again to South Africa : — British rule brought about a 
great development in exploration. Campbell, a Scotch missionary, 
in 1812 laid down the course of the Orange river on the map and 
discovered the source of the Limpopo. Captain (afterwards General 
Sir J. E.) Alexander made an interesting journey overland from 
Cape Town to Walfish Bay ; Dr. William Burchell and Captain 
William Cornwallis Harris explored Bechuanaland and the Transvaal 
and added much to our knowledge of the great African fauna. 
Moffat and other missionaries extended our knowledge of Bechuana- 
land ; Angas illustrated Zululand ; Major Vardon explored the 
Limpopo. 

In the first decade of the 19th century Henry Sault (formerly 
British Consul-General in Egypt) explored Abyssinia and the Zanzi- 
bar Coast. In 1822 Captain Owen left England with two ships, and 
spent four years exploring the East and West coasts of Africa, and 
the island of Madagascar. He especially added to our knowledge 
of Delagoa Bay and the vicinity. He directed the first voyage of 
discovery up the Zambezi, which unhappily ended in the death of all 
the Europeans. The limit reached was Sena. The East and West 
coasts of Africa were delimited by Captain Owen with the first ap- 
proach to real accuracy. Although he was not an overland explorer, 
his voyage marks a most important epoch in African discovery, and 
many of his surveys are still in use. 

Congo and Niger. 

Mungo Park and others having entertained the idea that the 
Niger might find its ultimate outlet to the sea in the river Congo, an 
expedition was sent out in 181 6 to explore the Congo river. It was 
a naval expedition, of course, and the command was given to Cap- 
tain Tuckey. He surveyed the river to the Yellala Falls, and 
carried his expedition inland to near these rapids, and the modern 
station of Isangila. Unfortunately, he and nearly all the officers of 
his expedition died of fever, but his journey, being conducted on 
scientific lines, resulted in considerable additions to our knowledge 
of Bantu Africa, its peoples, languages, and flora. 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 



67 



Major Laing, a Scotchman, who had already in 1823 distin- 
guished himself by exploring the source of the Rokel river of Sierra 
Leone, practically locating the source of ihe Niger and ascertaining 
its altitude, determined in 1825 to strike out a new departure in the 
search for Timbuctoo. He started from Tripoli, journeyed to 
Ghadames and the oasis of Twat, and thence struck across the 
desert to the Niger over a route which may some day be followed 
by a French trans-Sahara railway. He was attacked on the way by 
the detestable Touaregs, who left him for dead, bleeding from 
twenty-four wounds. Still, he recovered, and actually entered 
Timbuctoo on the i8th of August, 1826. Being advised by the 
people to leave because of their dislike to the presence of a 
Christian, he started to return across the desert, but was killed, it is 
supposed, at El Arwan by the bloodthirsty Touaregs. 

French Explorers. 

French names amongst explorers were wanting since the jour- 
neys of Briie and Compagnon at the beginning of the i8th century, 
though Le Vaillant, as a naturalist, made small but very interesting 
explorations in South Africa. But with the beginning of the 19th 
century, and the recovery of their Senegalese possessions. French- 
men resumed the exploration of the Dark Continent. In 1804, 
Rubault, an official of the Senegal Company, explored the desert 
country between the Senegal and the Gambia, and the upper waters 
of the Senegal. In 18 18, Gaspard Mollien discovered the source 
of the Gambia, and explored Portuguese Guinea. In 1824 and 
1825 De Beaufort visited the country of Kaarta to the north-east of 
the Senegal. Then came Caille, who reached Timbuctoo and 
returned thence to Morocco in 1827. 

The Sahara and Soudan. 

The British Government, still pegging away at the Niger 
country, was roused to fresh exertions by Caille's journey. Im- 
pressed by the success with which Laing had penetrated Central 
Africa from Tripoli, it resolved to try that Regency as a basis of 
discovery. Mr. Ritchie and Captain George Lyon started from 



68 EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Tripoli in 1818, and reached the country of Fezzan. Here Ritchie 
died, and Lyon did not get beyond the southernmost Hmit of that 
country. On his return a second expedition was organized under 
Dr. Waker Oudney (who was actually appointed Political Agent to 
Bornu before that country had been discovered by Europeans), 
Lieutenant Hugh Clapperton, and Lieutenant Dixon Denham. 
Starting from Tripoli in the spring of 1822, they were compelled to 
halt there by the obstacles that were placed in their way. Denham, 
an impulsive, energetic man, rushed back to Tripoli to remonstrate 
with the Basha, and receiving nothing but empty verbal assurances, 
started for Marseilles with the intention of proceeding to England, 
but he was recalled by the Basha of Tripoli, who henceforth placed 
no obstacles in his way. During his absence the expedition had 
visited the town of Ghat, far down in the Sahara. 

In 1823 this expedition reached the Soudan, and its members 
were the first Europeans to discover Lake Chad. They then visited 
Bornu and the Hausa state of Kano, where Dr. Oudney died. After 
Oudney's death, Clapperton proceeded to Sokoto, and very nearly 
reached the Niger, but was prevented from doing so by the jealousy 
of the Fula sultan of Sokoto. Whilst Major Denham was remain- 
ing behind in Bornu there arrived with a supply of stores a young 
man named Toole, who had traversed the long route from Tripoli to 
Bornu almost alone, and had made the journey from London in four 
months. Denham and Toole explored the eastern and southern 
shores of Lake Chad, and discovered the Shari river, after which the 
unfortunate Toole died. Denham and Clapperton then returned to 
Tripoli. 

The British Government sent Clapperton back to discover the 
outlet of the Niger. He landed at Badagri, in what is now the 
British colony of Lagos. He lost his companions one by one, with 
the exception of his invaluable servant Richard Lander. Clapperton 
passed through Yorubaland, and actually struck the Niger at the 
Busa Rapids, near where Park and his company perished. From 
Busa Clapperton and his party travelled through Nupe, and the 
Hausa states of Kano and Sokoto ; but he arrived at an unfortunate 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 5g 

time, when Sokoto was at war with Bornu, and the Fiila sultan was 
much too suspicious of Clapperton's motives to help him in the ex- 
ploration of the Niger. From fever and disappointment Clapperton 
died at Sokoto on the 13th of April, 1827. It was a great pity that 
he went there at all. What he should have done on reaching Busa 
was to work his way down from Busa to the sea. All his companions, 
except his servant Lander, had pre-deceased him. 

Lander's Work in Nigeria. 

Lander now endeavored to trace the Niger to the sea, but the 
Fula sultan still opposed him, and he was stripped of nearly all the 
property of the expedition before he could leave Sokoto. Eventually 
he made his way back to Badagri by much the same route that 
Clapperton had followed. Lander was a Cornishman, a man of 
short stature, but pleasing appearance and manners. He had had a 
slight education, as a boy, but learned a good deal more in going out to 
service as page, footman and valet. In this last-named capacity he 
had journeyed on the continent of Europe and in South Africa before 
accompanying Clapperton. When he returned to England his story 
did not arouse much interest, as Arctic explorations had replaced 
Africa in the thoughts of a volatile society. Moreover, the ultimate 
course of the Niger had by a process of exhaustion almost come to 
be guessed aright. As far back as 1808 Reichardt of Weimar had 
suggested that the Niger reached the Atlantic in the Gulf of Guinea 
through the Oil rivers. Later on James McQueen, who as a West 
Indian planter had cross-examined many slaves on the subject of the 
Niger, not only showed that this river obviously entered the sea in 
the Bight of Benin, but predicted that this great river would some 
day become a highway of British commerce. 

Somewhat grudgingly, the Government agreed to send Lander 
and his brother back to Africa, poorly endowed with funds. Not 
discouraged, however, the Landers arrived at Badagri in March, 
1830, and reached the Niger at Busa after an overland journey of 
three months. Meeting with no opposition from the natives, they 
paddled down stream for two months in canoes. At length they 
reached the delta, but there unfortunately fell into the power of a 



70 EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

large fleet of Ibo war canoes. By the Ibos they were Hkely to have 
been killed but for the remonstrances of some Mohammedan teachers 
who, oddly enough, were found with this fleet. However, the king 
of Brass, a trading settlement on the coast, happened to be visiting 
the Ibo chief, and agreed to ransom the Lander brothers on condition 
of receiving from them a " bill" agreeing to repay to the king the 
value of the goods which he had furnished for their redemption. 
They reached the sea at the mouth of the Brass river, one of the con- 
fluents of the Niger, but not the main stream. An English merchant- 
ship was anchored there; the Landers went delightedly on board, 
thinking that the end of their troubles had come, and asked the cap- 
tain to honor their bill, the amount of which the Government would 
repay him. To their amazement he refused, and altogether behaved 
in such a disgraceful manner that it is a pity his name has not been 
preserved for infamy. However, they managed on this ship to get a 
passage across to Fernando Po, where they landed. The ship by 
which they traveled, and the master of which treated them so badly, 
was afterwards captured by a pirate and never heard of again. 

'* Borrioboola-Gha." 

No great fuss was made over Lander when he returned in 1831. 
He afterwards joined the MacGregor Laird expedition for opening 
up the Niger. This commercial undertaking met with the most 
awful disasters from sickness, but MacGregor Laird nevertheless 
succeeded in discovering the Benue, and ascended it for some dis- 
tance. In 1833 Lander and Dr. Oldfield ascended the Niger from 
the Nun mouth as far as Rabba, and explored the Benue for 140 
miles above its junction with the Niger. After returning from a 
third trip up the Niger, Lander was attacked by savages in the delta, 
and was severely wounded, dying from his wounds at Fernando Po 
on the 6th of February, 1834. 

In 1840-41 Mr. Beecroft, superintendent of Fernando Po, and 
afterwards first consul for the Bights of Biafra and Benin, explored 
not only the Niger, but made khown for the first time the Cross 
river, to the east, which he ascended from Old Calabar to the rapids. 
In 1 841 the British Government sent out an important surveying 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 7 1 

expedition to the Niger under four naval officers. This expedition 
was despatched at the instigation of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 
the philanthropist, who had thrown himself, heart and soul, into the 
anti-slavery movement. At this period philanthropy reigned su- 
preme in England, and a sense of humor was in abeyance, though 
it was beginning to bubble up in the pages of Dickens, who has so 
deliciously satirized this Niger expedition in '' Bleak House" with 
its inimitable Mrs. Jellyby and her industrial mission of Borriaboola- 
Gha. The ghastly unhealthiness of the lower Niger was ignored, 
and an item in the programme of the expedition was the establish- 
ment of a model farm at the junction of the Benue and the Niger. 
The other aims of the expedition were nicely balanced between the 
spreading of Christian civilization and the suppression of the slave 
trade on the one hand and the zealous pushing of Manchester goods 
on the other. Numerous treaties were made, but the results of the 
expedition were disappointment and disaster, occasioned by utter 
ignorance of the conditions under which a small degree of health 
might be retained, and a muddle-headed indecision as to the practical 
results which were to be secured by the opening up of the Niger. 
The loss of life was enormous. Still, in spite of this check, British 
traders gradually crept into and up the Niger. 

British Enterprise. 

In 1836 John Davidson, an Englishman of considerable attain- 
ments, started from the Atlantic coast of Morocco for Timbuctoo, 
but was murdered at Tenduf, in the Sahara Desert. 

In 1849 the British Government determined to make another 
effort to open up commercial relations with the Niger and Central 
Africa, but resolved again to try the overland route from Tripoli. 
After the Napoleonic wars were finished, the British Government had 
sent out various surveying parties to map the coasts of Africa, and 
a well-equipped expedition under Admiral Reechley made a thorough 
investigation of the coasts of Tripoli and Barka in 182 1 and 1822, 
and sent back the first trustworthy accounts of the Greek ruins of 
the Cyrenaica. Since that time several consular representatives of 
Great Britain in Tripoli have carried on explorations in the interior. 



72 EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Among these was James Richardson, who had originally accompanied 
Admiral Beechley, and who further made most important explorations 
of the Tripolitan Sahara, discovering many interesting rock paintings 
and inscriptions. He was appointed to be the head of this over- 
land expedition of 1849, and associated with him were two Germans, 
Barth and Overweg. Dr. Henry Earth was born at Hamburg in 
the year 1821. He had travelled extensively in Asia Minor, in 
Mediterranean Africa, and up the Nile. 

Barth's Great Work. 

This expedition left Tripoli in the spring of 1850, and reached 
Bornu without any difficulty. Here its members separated. Richard- 
son died soon afterwards and was buried near Lake Chad. Overweg 
died in 1852, having been the first European to navigate Lake Chad. 
He was buried on the shores of this lake. For the next four years 
Barth carried on gigantic explorations on his own account. He 
journeyed from Lake Chad along the river Komadugu, and thence 
across northern Hausaland to the Niger at Say. From Say he cut 
across the bend of the Niger to Timbuctoo, and descended the river 
back to Say, and thence to Sokoto, from which he made his way to 
Kukawa in Bornu, where he met Dr. Vogel and two non-commis- 
sioned officers of the Royal Engineers, who had been sent by the 
British Gevernment to reinforce his expedition. Barth had previous- 
ly in 1 85 1 made a journey due south, and had struck the river 
Benue very high up its course. Vogel started to complete the 
discoveries in this direction, and eventually to make his way to the 
Nile. He was accompanied by Corporal MacGuire, but the two 
quarreled and parted, and both were murdered in the vicinity of 
Wadai. Dr. Barth and the other non-commissioned officer made 
their way back across the desert to Tripoli and England. 

Barth's journey was productive of almost more solid information 
than that of any of the great African explorers, excepting Stanley, 
and possibly Junker, Schweinfurth and Emin Pasha. Besides the 
geographical information given, his book in five volumes and his 
various linguistic works on the Central Soudan languages represent 
an amount of information that has not been sufficiently digested yet. 



EARLY EXPLORERS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. JZ 

Henry Barth stands in the first rank of the very great explorers, a 
class which should perhaps include Mungo Park, Livingstone, Stan- 
ley, Speke and Grant, Burton, Baker, Schweinfurth, Nachtigal, 
Rohlfs, Junker, and Joseph Thomson ; men who have not only 
made great geographical discoveries but who have enriched us as 
well with that information which clothes the dry bones of the mere 
delineation of rivers, lakes, and mountains. He received a some- 
what grudging reward for his services in England. After some 
delay he was created a C. B., and then his existence was ignored by 
the Government, to whom still, and for many years to come, an 
African explorer, laying bare to our knowledge hundreds of thou- 
sands of square miles of valuable territory, was infinitely less 
worthy of remembrance than a Charge d' Affaires at the court of 
the Grand Duke of Pumpernickel. 



CHAPTER IV, 



The Dutch Settlements at the Cape of Good Hope— A Despotic 
System— Growth of the Colony— British Acquisition— Establish- 
ing British Rule— Origin of the Boers— The Missionaries 
—Increasing Colonization — Friction between the 
Briton and Boer — The Slave Question- 
Effects of Emancipation. 



THE territory at the Cape of Good Hope was first settled in 
1652 by Dutchmen dispatched from Holland by the Nether- 
lands East India Company, not, at first, with the intention of 
founding a colony in the true sense, but as an outpost of the 
East Indian possessions — a place of call for vessels passing to and 
fro between Holland and Batavia. Van Riebeck, the leader of the 
little expedition, comprising somewhat more than a hundred people, 
chiefly soldiers and sailors, built a little fort, and laid out ground on 
which vegetables were grown for the supply of the garrison and of 
passing ships. The newcomers found Hottentots and Bushmen 
roaming the country. The former were a pastoral, nomad race, 
living on the produce of their flocks and herds, on game and on 
whatever food the soil supplied without tillage. They w^ere an 
inferior race, both as toilers and as fighters, and the only warfare 
between them and the colonists arose from occasional raids of native 
cattle robbers. The tribes of the great Bantu stock were at that 
time far away to the north and east, and the first Dutchmen saw 
nothing of Kaffirs, Zulus, Pondos, Tembus, Matabele, Basutos or 
Bechuanas. The Bushmen, a race of comparative dwarfs, were 
mere savages living in caves, hunters and pillagers, outcasts hated 
and slain alike by Hottentots and whites. Many Hottentots became 
half servants, half slaves, to the Europeans. The tribe, as repre- 
sented by certain chiefs, was cheated out of lands acquired by the 
Dutchmen in " sales" for a tenth of the real value, and matters 
went on quietly in the absence of attack from any European power. 

(74J 



THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 75 

A Despotic System. 

The Governor appointed by the Company was a despot, and 
the only poHtical liberty enjoyed by the settlers was that of sharing, 
through one or more of their number, in the Council of Justice, 
when that tribunal tried any of their fellow-citizens. They were 
servants of the Company, not free citizens, and were obliged to 
sell their corn, at a fixed price, to the Company's officials. In the 
eighteenth century many slaves were brouglit from Madagascar 
and Malaysia, and were not, on the whole, unkindly treated. Little 
exploration or extension of territory took place, and it was not until 
the end of the seventeenth century that the colony, reinforced by 
the arrival of marriageable women from Holland, and of some 
hundreds of Huguenots — a valuable accession, exiled through the 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 — ^^^^ more than 1000 
European permanent settlers, The eighteenth century was a period 
of stagnation and decline under faulty administration, except from 
1751 to 1771, when "good Governor Tulbagh," long remembered 
and revered, was in power. The farmers, by degrees, "trekked" 
away inland from the neighborhood of the Cape, in order to be their 
own masters, and became the sturdy, isolated " Boers" of recent 
history. In 1760 the Orange River — named from the Stadtholder 
of the Netherlands — was first crossed by Europeans and the Dutch 
soon came into contact with the Kaffirs moving down from the north- 
east. The first of a long series of Kaffir wars began, the natives 
after some severe fighting, being driven back, in 1781, beyond the 
Great Fish River. 

Growth of the Colony. 

In 1770 the colony had been found to contain about 10,000 
Europeans, including 1 700 servants of the Company, a majority of 
the whole number of free colonists beino- children. With the de- 

o 

cline of Dutch power, as contrasted with that of Great Britain and 
France, days of danger for the colony from foreign foes had arrived. 
In December, 1780, war with Great Britain arose, but an expedition 
dispatched against the Cape from our shores was baffled by a French 
squadron under the able Suffren. The colonists became greatly 



76 THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

discontented with the Company's rule, and the successful revolt of 
the British colonists in America made their grievances harder to bear. 
An appeal to the Company caused some inadequate reforms, and 
the Company was fast going to financial ruin when the end of the 
Company's power came in a sort of submission to Kaffir invaders. 
hopeless bankruptcy, the conquest of the Netherlands by the French 
in 1793, and the seizure of the Cape by a strong British force two 
years later, at the instigation of the hereditary Stadtholder, the 
Prince of Orange, then an exile on English soil. 

British Acquisition. 

The first British occupation lasted until 1803 under rule of the 
territory as a Crown colony, with freedom of trade, and some war- 
fare against Kaffirs, Hottentots and recalcitrant Dutch farmers, or 
Boers, in the Graaf Reinet country. The Peace of Amiens restored 
the territory to the " Batavian Republic," as the Dutch Netherlands 
had now become, and the Dutch held it for nearly three years from 
February, 1803. The mother country, when British fleets comman- 
ded the seas, could do nothing to defend the colony, but the Gover- 
nor, General Janssens, a zealous and able ruler, made preparations 
against attack, in the way of burgher levies, Hottentot infantry, the 
crews of two French ships, and a few regular troops. 

In January, 1806, a British squadron, under Commodore 
Popham, carrying over 6000 soldiers, commanded by General David 
Baird, appeared off Table Bay, and the forces were landed about 18 
miles north of Cape Town. Against choice British troops including 
a Highland brigade, Janssens was helpless. His men were speedily 
routed, and the capital surrendered on January loth, an event 
followed within a few days by a capitulation surrendering the colony 
finally, as it proved, to British possession. The formal cession, 
under the Peace of 18 14, was due to purchase of the colony, along 
with the territories now forming British Guiana, for the sum of six 
millions sterling. Thus did Great Britain acquire at the Cape of 
Good Hope a commanding position on the commercial route to her 
Eastern dependencies, the right of free access for Dutch ships to 
all ports of the colony being conceded. 



THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 11 

Establishingr British Rule. 

The boundaries of the territory at that time were the ocean on 
the west and south ; the Great Fish River, roughly speaking, on the 
east ; the Buffalo and Zak rivers on the north-west, and a Hne drawn 
from the Zak nearly to the Orange river on the north-east. The 
first form of rule for a colony numbering about 26,000 Europeans, 
30,000 slaves, and 20,000 half-breed and Hottentot servants, was 
autocratic, under the just and kindly Earl of Caledon (i 806-11) and 
Sir John Cradock (181T-14). The Hottentots were preserved from 
ruin, if not from extinction, by proclamations making them subject 
to European law instead of a really anarchial condition under petty 
chiefs, and compelling them to adopt a fixed position on certain 
** reserves" as tillers, hunters or cattle owners, or in the service of 
white men, instead of their previous vagabond life. The colonists 
were divided into townspeople, of whom 6000 resided in the capital ; 
grain farmers, graziers, and, near to Cape Town, vine-growers de- 
scended from the Huguenot immigrants at the end ot the seventeenth 
century. 

Origin of tiie Boers- 

The character of the Boers forming the great majority of the 
free population is worthy of note. From an early period of the 
Dutch colonization, there was frequent ''trekking" among the far 
mers, or emigration from a settled district to the inner wilds. North- 
wards from the peninsula the country rises in terraces, separated by 
mountain ranges. The distribution of water is unequal, and the 
Boers became a class, living either a nomadic life, with their huge 
wagons, as they wandered across dusty, almost treeless plains in 
search of watered, fertile valleys among the hills, or settled in isolation 
on ground suitable for tillage and pasture. The character of the 
Boer was thus formed, through the irritating interference of the 
Netherlands Company's officials, driving him to seek a place of per- 
fect freedom, as that of a man accustomed to live alone and impatient 
of control ; half wild in his strength and independence of spirit, his 
loss of fitness for political and social combination, and of willingness 
to submit to rule and restraint in the interests of true progress and 



7 8 THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

civilization. His religion was the stern Calvinism of the Dutch 
Reformed Church. The Bible was his only book, and in that book 
his favorite pages were those of the Old Testament, dear, in its 
harsh morality and severe justice, to the English Puritans, who put 
to death their fallen sovereign. 

The Boers, in the wilderness, as they wandered far afield, came 
into conflict with Bushmen and Kaffirs, and their spirits and tempers 
were not softened thereby. Unstirred and unfreshened in thought by 
any contact with men from the outer world of constant progress and 
change, with slaves and Hottentots, as their dependants, and no 
society of equals save that of other Boers, they were in many cases 
somewhat sullen and unsympathetic ; seldom inhuman or depraved ; 
generally shrewd, prudent, persevering, good-humored and hospitable. 

The Missionaries. 

The state of the colony was in no small degree wrought upon 
by the missionaries sent forth under the influence of the new British 
religious and philanthropic movement which marked the latter half 
of the eighteenth and the earlier years of the nineteenth century. In 
the latest days of Dutch rule Moravian preachers did good work 
among the Hottentots. The London Missionary Society took the 
field in 1799; the Wesleyans in 1816; the Glasgow Missionary 
Society in 1821. Great friction arose between the missionaries, who 
asserted that the colonists were cruel to the native population, and 
the settlers, who declared that, as a class, they were libelled. Ex- 
cellent work was assuredly done by the missionaries as pioneers of 
discovery and civilization, a large portion of their number being 
shrewd, hardy, zealous, tenacious and enterprising Scots. Not so 
good was the effect of their testimony against the Dutch colonists 
upon the humanitarians at home. An impulsive class of philanthropic 
politicians were induced to work upon the minds of the weak Whig 
officials in charge of colonial affairs. The representations of gov- 
ernors were unheeded, and, as we shall see, evil results followed the 
action of Downing Street in neglect of the wishes and judgment 
of the Europeans on the spot whose interests were most closely 
concerned. 



THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT TPIE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 79 

On the whole, apart from their reHglous and civiHzing- work, 
the missionaries did much to draw British attention to a colony 
little known, valued only as a station on the way to India, and 
regarded as fit only for the rough Dutchmen, Hottentots and Kaffirs 
who dwelt there. The world of Great Britain became aware of the 
existence of territory northwards from the Cape, that was worth 
possessing, and missionary travel was the beginning of the move- 
ment which has taken our countrymen from the Orange river to the 
Zambesi, and from the Zambesi to the Equator. To these ministers 
of religion is also due the solution of the problem as to how white 
men and black men could live peaceably together in a vast region 
where the natives are not likely to practically vanish from the scene 
before the advance of a superior race, as in North America and 
Australia. 

Increasing Colonization. 

The great want of the colony was an increase of its European 
population, and, in the overstocked condition of the labor market in 
the British Isles on the conclusion of the great Napoleonic war, the 
Home Government sought to remedy this evil. It was desirable to 
provide on the north-east border a human barrier against Kaffir in- 
cursions. In 1811 and 1812 it had been needful to employ regular 
troops and "Burgher" levies with the Cape regiment of Hottentots, 
to expel many thousands of intruders of the Kosa clan, and 
Grahamstown was founded with the name of the commander. 
Colonel Graham, who had driven the Kaffirs beyond the Great Fish 
river. The place was the chief point on a line of military posts in 
that quarter. In 1817 a demand for European artisans brought the 
useful addition of about 200 Scottish mechanics, and some hundreds 
of soldiers and sailors, taking their discharge in the colony, easily 
found employment. 

In 1820 and 1821 a regular scheme of settlement, with a vote 
of ^50,000 from Parliament took about 4000 colonists to the district 
called Albany, about 100 miles inland, north-east from Algoa Bay. 
Many of the people were not well selected for their new life and 
scene of labor, and much difficulty and sufTering were the result. 



8o THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

The majority, being trained mechanics, found employment in differ- 
ent parts. The arrival of so large a body of men in a rising state 
gave a strong and growing British element to the population, and 
the eastern districts became, as they are still, the most British part 
of Cape Colony. Port Elizabeth, named from the wife of the acting 
Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, was founded. In the Albany district, 
we may observe, slavery was prohibited, and not only was the cause 
of personal freedom promoted by the influx of free labor, but the 
day of constitutional rule was hastened by the presence of those 
who, unlike the Dutchmen, were trained in self-government under 
representative institutions. 

Friction Between Briton and Boer. 

Lord Charles Somerset was in power as Governor, with an 
interval of absence in England, from 1814 to 1826. He was a man 
of arbitrary character in his method of rule, restricting the liberty of 
the press and the right of public meeting. In 181 5 he aroused a 
bitter feeling amongst the Dutch by hanging five of the insurgents 
who surrendered after a small Boer rising on the eastern frontier. 
More fighting with the Kaffirs occurred. In the war of 1 818-19 
Grahamstown was attacked, but the Kosas were repulsed with very- 
severe loss, and, in order that they might no longer find shelter in 
the pathless ''bush" on the banks of the Fish River, the boundary line 
was moved forward to the Keikskamma, with the establishment of 
two new military posts. The colony grew in numbers, the estimate 
for 1822 being nearly 120,000 of whom about 46,000 were free 
citizens, nearly all Dutch and British. The first lighthouse was built 
on the coast ; new roads were opened ; the breed of cattle, especially 
of horses, was much improved through the importation of well-bred 
stock ; the famous and valuable "South African Public Library" was 
founded in 1818, and, two years later, the Board of Admiralty 
established the Royal Observatory. 

The Dutch population, or five-sixths of the freemen, were greatly 
irritated by the sole employment of the English language in ordi- 
nances and proclamations issued by the Governor, and in all pro- 
ceedings of courts of law. At the same time, in 1828, a great 




Queen of England 



h#t?e"- 





British Hounted Infantry Reconnoitering". 



THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 8 1 

judicial reform came in the establishment of a Supreme Court, 
consisting of a Chief Justice and three puisne judges, appointed by 
the Crown, and independent of the executive government, and in 
the substitution of civil commissioners and resident magistrates for 
the old Dutch *'landdrosts" and ''heemraden." Wool, hides and skins 
became chief articles of export, and the colony was making slow 
and steady progress when the year 1834 brought the beginning of 
twenty years of conflict with the Kaffirs. 

The Slave Question. 

Before entering on this narrative, we may note the progress of 
personal and constitutional freedom. In 1828, under the governor- 
ship of Sir Lowry Cole, "Hottentots and all other free colored persons 
lawfully residing within the colony" were granted "all and every 
right, benefit and privilege enjoyed by other British subjects." The 
effect of this relief from the laws requiring Hottentots to obtain 
passes from magistrates before changing their places of abode was 
to make a large number of them into wanderers and *' loafers" who 
would not keep at steady work for the farmers. As regard slaves, 
the importation of Malays and others had ceased with the abolition 
of the slave trade in the British dominions in 1807. Good treatment 
allowed the slave population of Cape Colony to increase, and the 
number had risen from under 30,000 in 1808 to nearly 40,000 in 

1834. 

Under the Act of 1833, abolishing slavery throughout the 
British colonies, the Cape slave owners received one and a quarter 
millions sterling as compensation, as against the estimate of three 
millions made by commissioners appointed to decide on the real 
value of the slaves. The inadequate sum awarded was, moreover, 
payable only in London in proof of ownership, and was to be 
diminished by all expenses incurred in carrying out the work of 
emancipation. The slave owners, who had been for many years 
irritated by the effect of laws passed to reduce their power over their 
usually well-treated bondsmen, were naturally incensed by a measure 
of confiscation which reduced many widows and aged persons to 

absolute penury and impoverished hundreds of the best of families. 
6 



32 THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

Effects of Emancipation. 

This o-ross injustice had its share in causing the great Boer 
emigration. The farmers in wheat and wine were for many years 
cramped for lack of labor, though this fact had a beneficial effect in 
promoting the industry of breeding merino sheep for wool. The 
freed men were the better neither in body nor mind, and lived a 
nearly idle life in the villages and towns, pampered by the philan- 
thropic and missionary agencies, devoid of ambition, sense of respon- 
sibility and care, happy with the happiness of animals basking in the 
sun. The colonists, for their parts, received in the same year, 1834, 
a slight share in the work of government through a new Legislative 
Council of ten members, five ex-officio, and five chosen by the 
Governor from the chief citizens. Sir Benjamin D'Urban, a man of 
admirable sagacity and firmness, was the new Governor who 
inaugurated the above change of affairs, arriving early in 1834, with 
further instructions to form treaties of friendship with the native 
chiefs beyond the colonial frontier. It was his lot to have other work 
to do, work for which he was well fitted as a military officer of 
Peninsular service, and an official of civil experience in his rule of 
British Guiana, a territory where, as at the Cape, he had to deal 
with a Dutch population representing former possessors of the 
country. 



CHAPTER V, 



Chaka, the Zulu Tyrant— Chaka Comes to the Throne— A Bloody 

Beginning— The Zulu Army— The Deadly Assegai— Schemes of 

Conquest— The Zulu Government— A Reign of Terror— 

At the Height of his Power— Scenes of Slaughter. 

Chaka's Dream— The Crowning Infamy— 

The Tyrant's End— The World's 

Worst Monster. 



N order to appreciate the character of the natives with whom the 
Boer pioneers had to deal, we must review the history of Chaka, 
the famous Zulu tyrant, who aspired to be emperor of all x\frica, 
and who succeeded in making of himself a monster of cruelty 
beside whom Attila and Tamerlane seem almost mild and humane. 
He flourished at the beginning of the present century, at the very 
time when the Cape Colony was being developed. But the colonists 
did not come into contact with him, nor with his nation, until the 
''great Trek" led them beyond the Orange and the Vaal rivers, 
into the land beyond the Draakensberg. The story of Chaka is one 
of the most notable in all the annals of the Dark Continent. 

The family of this monster, whose name in the Sichuana 
language signifies "The Battle-Axe, " was ever remarkable for its 
conquests, cruelty and ambition, and emerged from a tribe originally 
inhabiting a district about Delagoa Bay, of which tradition informs 
us the first king was named Zoola. Essenzinconyarna, the father of 
Chaka, made his way from the primitive location of his ancestors to 
the Umferoche Umslopie, or White River (a branch ot the River St. 
Lucie), and colonizing within sixty miles of the coast kept the 
neighboring tribes In terror and subjection. In addition to thirty 
wives, he was possessed of concubines without number, and had 
many children, but from peculiar circumstances attending It the birth 
of the infant Chaka was esteemed a miraculous event, and the child 

(83) 



84 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 



In consequence was held by the nation to be something superhuman. 
Advancing towards manhood he did not disappoint the expectations 
formed of him. His strength became Herculean, his disposition 
turbulent, his heart Iron, his soul a warring element, and his 
ambition boundless. 

The precocity, shrewdness, and cunning of Chaka speedily 
attracted the notice and jealousy of his father. Knowing full well 
from the fate of his own progenitors that amongst the Zulus, the 
'^on, whose ripening energies and developing physical powers ren- 
der him capable of setting an example for his subjects to imitate, 
experienced little difficulty in dethroning his aged and gray-headed 
sire, whose declining years rendered him no longer fit for feats of 
prowess, he resolved that the young prince should die, and began 
to plot his destruction. Discovering this, Chaka fled with Umgartie, 
his younger and illegitimate brother, to a neighboring tribe called 
Umtatwas ; by whose chief, Tinglswaa, he was hospitably received. 
He soon distinguished himself, as well amongst the warriors by 
deeds of daring, as by his surpassing skill in punning and singing, 
both of which accomplishments are held in rare estimation — being, 
with the exception of dancing, almost the only amusements In which 
the Africans ever indulge. 

Chaka Comes to the Throne. 

On the sudden decease of Essenzinconyarna, one of his 
youngest sons assuming the crown of the Zulus, Chaka at once 
resolved to dethrone him, in order to usurp his place at the head o 
the nation — and with this view he formed a project which was 
speedily put in execution. Umgartie, his fraternal companion in 
exile, repaired to the residence of the young monarch with a story 
that Tinglswaa had slain Chaka, in consequence of which he had 
himself been obliged to fly for life and throw himself at his brother's 
feet for protection. This Important and much wished for informa- 
tion being implicitly believed, Umgartie was presently installed in 
the office of chief domestic, and being thus constantly about the 
royal person, had every facility afforded him for the accomplishment 
of his bloody mission. Sending two of his confidential friends to 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 85 

secrete themselves in the long grass by the river side, while the king 
was taking his usual morning bath, the latter was speared to death 
on a preconcerted signal, and Chaka, at the head of the Umtatwas, 
took possession of the throne. 

A Bloody Begrinning. 

The putting to death of all the principal persons of his brother's 
government, including every one that was suspected of being inimical 
to his own accession, was the first act that signalized his bloody reign. 
Tingiswaa dying shortly afterwards, the young king went to war with 
the Umtatwas — the nation that had hospitably sheltered and pro- 
tected him whilst in exile ; and having destroyed the major part of 
the tribe, the remnant were fain to become his vassals. In a few 
years Chaka had depopulated the whole of the country from the 
Amapoota River to the Ootagale — signal success also attending his 
incursions among the interior tribes, over which he exercised the 
most sanguinary persecution — pursuing them with a refinement in 
fiendish ferocity too harrowing to be detailed. 

Arriving at the zenith of his pride and ambition, and having, for 
a brief space, sated himself with the blood of his neighbors, the sav- 
age despot began to direct his thoughts towards the internal govern- 
ment of his realm — a measure which was rendered more than ever 
imperative from the circumstance of his extensive victories having 
placed him at the head of a gigantic and overgrowing nation. His 
first care was to discipline his rabble forces, which were already 
elated with achievements, originating chiefly from the dauntless and 
irresistible spirit of their leader. Ever in his own person did Chaka, 
surnamed '*The Bloody," set an example in the field well worth the 
imitation of his followers ; and whilst his ferocity kept his people in 
abject awe, dauntless intrepidity rendered him the terror of his oppo- 
nents. Having once entered upon hostilities against a native power, 
his whole soul and energies were irrevocably bent on its extermination. 
Mercy was never for a moment an inmate of his bosom, and nothing 
short of rivers of blood, caused by the most lavish sacrifice of human 
life, was capable of gratifying his monstrous appetite. Partaking of 
this taste, his warriors were ever eager for battle, and shouted for 



86 CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 

war from their love of plunder. The magic of his name gained for 
them even more renown than their actual prowess in arms, which 
nevertheless was rendered desperately reckless by the alternative he 
extended to them, of either returning victorious to participate in the 
spoils they won, or being condemned to a cruel and immediate death 
for alleg-ed cowardice. 

The Zulu Army. 

Chaka's army amounted altogether to near one hundred thou- 
sand men ; fifty thousand were marshaled into regiments, and held 
in constant readiness for battle. These were formed into three 
divisions, called Umbalabale, or the invincibles; Umboolalio, or the 
slaughterers, and Toogooso, or the hide-aways ; a portion of each 
being incorporated with every force that took the field. Each reg- 
iment was distinguished by shields of a different color, the great 
warriors having white ox-hides, with one or two black spots ; the 
young soldiers, black ; and those who possessed wives, and were 
hence denominated Umfaundas, or inferiors, red. Individuals dis- 
tinguishing themselves in battle received a badge of nobility, and 
were honored with a title, by which they were ever afterwards 
accosted. 

The Deadly Assegai. 

Having thus organized his army, the despot next introduced a 
totally new system of discipline. The slender javelins hitherto 
employed for throwing were abolished, and their use interdicted on 
pain of death ; a single stabbing spear of stouter materials being 
introduced in place of them. The supeiior efficacy of this novel 
equipment had previously been established in a mock fight with 
reeds, which took place in presence of the assembled nation ; and 
death by impalement was the penalty attached to the loss of the spear 
in battle. The warriors had now no alternative but to conquer or 
die, and as an additional spur to their valor the commissariat of an 
invading army was never more than barely sufficient to subsist them 
to the scene of action. In order that the youths of the rising 
generation might imbibe a taste for military tactics, they were 
ordered to accompany the tried warriors in the capacity of esquires; 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 8/ 

and having attained an age which rendered them capable of wielding 
an assegai with effect, they were immediately supplied with arms, 
and duly incorporated. 

With a view to render the troops as efficient as possible, the 
most unnatural abstinence was enforced, under the pretext that 
marriage deprives man of his relish for war, and causes his thoughts 
to be directed homewards, rather than towards the enemy. Com- 
merce was likewise strictly forbidden, under the belief that it would 
enervate the people and unfit them for their military duties. Every 
plan, in short, which ferocity and barbarity could devise, was resorted 
to by Chaka to inspire his men with a martial spirit ; and under the 
excuse of perfecting the model of his army, the monster's unnatural 
propensities and insatiable thirst for blood induced him, horrible to 
relate, to weed his warriors by singling out the maimed, the aged, 
and the infirm, to be put to the spear; observing, with savage saga- 
city, that "such cripples were only in the way, and without making 
him any return, did but consume his beef, which was required to 
make young men stout and lusty." Upon the occasion of this foul 
slaughter of numerous brave veterans, to whose valor and devotion 

o 

Chaka owed a large portion of his richest conquests, the wretch 
erected a kraal upon which the name of Gibbeklack, signifying 
''pick out the old ones," was humorously bestowed, in commemor- 
ation of the base and barbarous deed. 

Schemes of Conquest. 

Fully impressed with the conviction that his warriors, thus 
organized and disciplined, would prove themselves invincible, Chaka 
now indulged in projecting movements upon a grander scale than 
formerly ; planning new predatory inroads upon those independent 
tribes whose wealth in cattle afforded the greatest inducements, and 
looking forward with a sort of prophetic spirit to a day not far distant 
when all his ambitious schemes should be achieved, when his expect- 
ations should be fully realized, and he should find himself the sole 
and undisputed ''master of the world." Spring never appeared 
without its marauding expeditions ; every succeeding season also 
brought upon the weak and tributary tribes, visits of violence, 



88 CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 

desolation, and plunder ; each in its turn sooner or later feeling the 
monster's scourge for some alleged offence against majesty, which 
alone had existence in his fertile invention. The eve of going to 
war was with him always the period of brutal and inhuman murders, 
in which he seemed to indulge with the savage delight of the tiger 
over its prey. A muster being taken prior to his troops moving, 
those warriors who on any previous occasion had not in his estima- 
tion properly acquitted themselves of their duty, or (which was held 
to be tantamount) were suspected of being cowards, were singled out 
and publicly impaled. Once determined on a sanguinary display of 
his power, nothing could curb his ferocity. His twinkling eye evinced 
the pleasure that worked within. His iron heart exulted, and his 
whole frame seemed as though knit with joyous impulse, at behold- 
ing the blood of the innocent flowing at his feet ! Grasping his 
Herculean limbs, his muscular hand exhibited by their motion a 
desire to aid in the execution of the victims of his barbarity. He 
seemed, in short, a being in human lorm endowed with more than 
the physical capabilities of man ; a giant without reason ; a monster 
created with more than ordinary power and disposition for doing 
mischief, from whose withering glance man recoiled as from the 
serpent's hiss or the lion's growl. 

The Zulu Government. 

Chaka constantly exercised a perfect system of espionage which 
served to keep him minutely acquainted with the condition and 
strength of the tribes, whether independent or tributary, by which 
he was surrounded ; his scouts being also enjoined to make such 
observations regarding the country as might enable them to lead his 
troops to the scene of the action with the least chance of discovery 
or surprise. Three months before he meditated an attack he dis- 
coursed freely on war, and talked with confidence of routing his 
enemies — being withal exceedingly wary, and using every precaution 
to conceal, even from his generals and chiefs, the real power with 
which he designed to contend ; precluding, by this crafty discretion 
the possibility of his enemies being in readiness for the march. 
Should he not lead the army in person, his plans were confided to a 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. gg 

general -in-chief, who, however, was never selected for command on a 
second occasion. It was his invariable policy also to harangue his 
warriors at their departure, in language calculated to raise their 
expectations, and elate them in the hour of battle ; but in order to 
prevent any treacherous communication with the enemy, the true ob- 
ject of the expedition was still studiously concealed, and the soldiers 
induced to believe that they were about to attack any but the devoted 
tribe. Achieving a signal triumph, the spoils were liberally divided 
amongst them, as a stimulus to further exertion ; but defeat, under 
any circumstances, was the watchword for a scene of woe and 
lamentation, and for a massacre of no measured description — 
hundreds of brave men being hurried oft, upon the fiat of their 
ruthless and unappeasable master, to be impaled as a warning beacon 
to future expeditions. 

A Reigrn of Terror. 

In all civilized countries cowardice in the army is very properly 
punished with death, the testimony of guilt having first been fully 
established ; but Chaka was neither remarkable for his nice discrimi- 
nation, nor for his minute investigation of a charge preferred. On 
one occasion, in particular, a whole regiment was indiscriminately 
butchered, together with the wives and families of the warriors that 
composed it — and who, although they had fought with signal bravery, 
had been overpowered by superior numbers, and thus compelled to 
retreat. The scene of this revolting tragedy was designated 
Umboolalio, or "the place of slaughter," in order to perpetuate its 
recollection in the minds of the people. But defeat was of rare 
occurrence. The predictions of the monarch were speedily verified 
by the success that attended his arms ; and the fame of his troops 
spread rapidly over the whole country. Every tribe they encoun- 
tered became an easy conquest ; and no quarter being given, the 
inhabitants at once abandoned their villages and property to the 
mercy and rapacity of their insatiable invaders. Thus did Chaka 
spread devastation and terror throughout the whole country, from 
the Mapoota as low as the Umzimfoobo, or St. John's River. Tribe 
after tribe was invaded, routed, and mercilessly butchered : their 



90 CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 

huts were fired over their devoted heads, and the few that escaped 
of the ruined inmates were driven to seek shelter in the depths of 
the forest — either to perish from hunger and want — to become a 
prey to wild beasts — or to be ultimately haunted down by the relent- 
less and sanguinary Zulu. 

At the Heigrht of His Power. 

Death ever reigned without a rival over the extensive dominions 
of Chaka, alike during the intervals of peace, as in the time of war ; 
the unexampled cruelties practised by the despot, and the plausible 
reasons assigned for their perpetration, being withal the surest means 
of governing his oppressed and wondering subjects. The nation 
were in the universal belief that their monarch dealt in necromancy, 
and held converse with the spirits of his forefathers ; and so ably did 
he support this character as to leave no doubt in their superstitious 
minds that he possessed the power of reading their utmost thoughts, 
and of beholding their most secret actions ; thus striking terror into 
them by his seeming unearthly power, and effectually checking any 
disposition to revolt against his inhuman decrees. 

Having completed the re-organization of the army — elected 
rulers — abolished old laws — and enacted new ones — Chaka finally 
succeeded in establishing that which may with strict propriety be 
termed a Zulucratical form of orovernment. It is one that defies 
description or detail, and which neither can be comprehended nor 
digested ; that affords protection to no living creature, and places 
the trembling subject at the mercy of a despotic monarch, whose nod 
may consign him innocent or guilty, to a lingering or instant death. 
One that may compel the agonizing father to butcher his unoffending 
child — brother to execute brother — the husband to impale his wife — 
and the son to become the inhuman mutilator of her that gave him 
birth ! The ties of consanguinity availed nothing with this inhuman 
tyrant. A sign given by the fatal pointing of his blood-stained 
finger, or the terrible declination of his head, must be promptly 
obeyed ; and if, after the perpetration of the revolting deed, the 
feelings of violated nature should predominate, and manifest them- 
selves to this fiend in human form, the party was ordered for instant 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 9 1 

despatch, either by impalement, by having the neck twisted, or being 
stoned or beaten to death with sticks. The kith and kin of the 
wretched victim hkewise shared his fate ; his property being also 
seized and distributed amongst the warriors. Neither w^as any 
reason assigned for the murderous decree, until it was too late to 
recall the fiat of execution ; the devoted subject frequently thanking 
his savage monarch whilst he was undergoing the sentence that had 
been thus iniquitously passed on him. 

A Pause in the Storm. 

To this enviable state of things there succeeded a dreadful lull, 
which may fitly be compared to that which intervenes between the 
first and last shock of an earthquake — when all are in consternation, 
fearing that the next moment they may be sw^allowed during the 
devasting convulsion. This pause from war and sanguinary execu- 
tions was devoted to the superstitious ceremony of appeasing the 
manes of the departed, and quieting the apprehensions of the living, 
by great sacrifices of oxen, and by distributions of the property of 
the murdered amongst the executioners. 

Amongst barbarous tribes, it is a common custom supersti- 
tiously to contend that their chiefs cannot die naturally ; that they 
are destined to live until they fall in battle ; and that death, proceed- 
ing either from age or disease, is occasioned by the "working of 
the wizard." This sanguinary superstition was carried to the fullest 
extent by Chaka, who uniformily, on the death of a chief, endeavored 
to discover those who possessed the charm by the test of their being 
unable to shed tears. On these occasions numbers were put to 
death for not weeping — the forcing large quantities of snuff up the 
nostrils in order to bring about a copious flood sometimes failing to 
have the desired effect. 

Scenes of Slaugrhter. 

As an example for his followers to imitate and admire, Chaka 
married no queen, although at each of his palaces he possessed 
from three to five hundred girls, who were termed servants or 
sisters. Becoming pregnant, a damsel was immediately put to death 



92 CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 

Upon some imaginary crime — the sturdy executioner laying one 
hand upon the crown of the head, placing the other under the chin, 
and dislocating the delicate neck by a sudden wrench. The body 
was then dragged outside the kraal, and left to be devoured by 
hyenas and carnivorous birds that were ever in attendance about 
the habitation of the destroyer. 

Chaka's Dream. 

Early one morning, Chaka took his seat as usual and having 
with great earnestness enjoined his audience to secresy, acquainted 
them that he had had a dream which concerned him. The spirit of 
Umbeah, an old and favorite chief, had appeared, warning him of the 
designs of his people, and acquainting him that whilst he (Chaka) 
had been teaching songs to some of his warriors the preceding- 
evening, others had been debauching his women, and polluting the 
imperial seraglio ! This offense he declared himself determined to 
punish with rigor ; and the courtiers applauding his resolution he 
held a consultation with them as to the best mode of securing the 
whole of the people in the Kraal. The place having been suddenly 
surrounded, the diabolical tyrant entered at the head of a party of 
warriors, and having first beaten his aged and infirm mother with 
inconceivable cruelty, "for not taking proper care of the girls," he 
caused one hundred and seventy persons, of both sexes, to be driven 
into the cattle enclose ; selecting several to be put to death with 
truly monstrous refinement by the hands of their own relatives, and 
leaving the remainder to be afterwards indiscriminately butchered. 

Upon the completion of this infernal work, his Majesty announ- 
ced his intention of consulting Umbeah "in order that he might find 
out the rest of the delinquents : " adding that on the morrow he 
contemplated putting to death all who had offended since the com- 
mencement of his reign, in order that nothing might be wanting to 
complete his own happiness, and that of his people. 

The Crowningr Infamy. 

Shortly after the perpetration of this satanic deed, Umnante the 
queen mother, died ; and every subject in the realm was expected to 



93 

proceed, according to established custom, to the king s residence, 
there to mourn for the illustrious deceased. Umnante had been 
repudiated by Essenzinconyarna, and had afterwards been guilty of 
signal infidelity to the nation, by cohabiting with a commoner of her 
father's tribe. Whether in consequence of this lapse, or from some 
other circumstance, the usual etiquette was somewhat laxly observed, 
and there ensued an appalling tragedy which has never been 
exceeded in brutality or foulness, by any of the black and inhuman 
exploits detailed in the long and bloody catalogue of Chaka's crimes. 
Upon the grounds that "some of the subjects must have been 
accessory by witchcraft to the death of the queen mother, and did 
not therefore attend to mourn," several kraals and villages were 
fired ; men, women, and children, having first been cruelly tortured, 
were roasted alive in the flames, by the ferocious agents of a still 
more fiendish master ; this act of unprecedented barbarity being 
followed up by a general massacre throughout the realm — the tide 
of blood flowing for a whole fortnight, and reeking of cruelties too 
revolting to narrate. 

But with this horrible and fiendish slaughter, terminated the 
unexpected reign of the bloody-minded Chaka. He had now sub- 
dued all the tribes, and laid waste the whole country, from the 
southern and western provinces lying about Delagoa Bay, as far as 
the nation of the Amaponda, two hundred miles south-west of Natal, 
and had begun to contemplate an attack on some of the frontier 
tribes. He, however, manifested the greatest apprehension of 
coming into collision with the white people, whose hostilities he was 
avowedly afraid to excite, and to whom, in his own country, he was 
hospitable from motives of prudence — and this consideration alone 
had restrained him from attacking those tribes that had thrown them- 
selves under the protection of the Cape Government. Death 
arrested his merciless and ambitious career. He fell, as he deserved, 
by the hand of his own subjects, and by none was his fate mourned. 

The Tyrant's End. 

The assassination of Chaka had long been meditated by his 
brother Dingaan, and the diabolical massacre just detailed hastened 



94 CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 

the execution of his design. The tyrant was sitting one evening 
after sunset, with one or two of his principal chiefs, admiring the 
vast droves of sleek cattle returning to the kraal from pasture, and 
probably contemplating the murder of innocent beings, when he was 
startled by the audacity and unwonted demeanor of Boper, his 
attendant, who approached him with a spear used for slaughter- 
ings oxen, and in an authoritative tone demanded of the old chieftains, 
who were humiliating themselves in the royal presence, "what they 
meant by pestering the king with falsehoods and accusations ? " An 
effort was immediately made on the part of the exasperated warriors 
to secure the traitor ; and at the moment Umslungani and Dingaan, 
the two elder brothers of the despot, stealing unperceived behind 
him, buried their assegais in his back. Chaka was enveloped in a 
blanket, which he instantly cast oft, making an ineffectual attempt 
to escape that death to which his odious decrees had consigned so 
many of his unoftending and loyal subjects. Being overtaken in 
his flight by his pursuers, the domestic Boper transfixed him with 
his weapon. Falling at their feet, the wretch besought his assassins 
in the most abject terms to let him live, that he might be their 
slave. To this dastardly appeal, however, no heed was given ; he 
was presently speared to death, and the assassins then left him in 
order to execute a similar deed upon the chiefs who were with him, 
and who had also attempted to escape, but were arrested in their 
flight, and shared the fate of their ferocious master. One of these 
was an old gray-headed warrior, who had only a short time before 
put to death his seven concubines, together with their children, for 
having neglected to mourn for the death of Umnante. Returning 
to the prostrate body of their oppressor, the regicides then danced 
and howled around it, as round the carcass of a vanquished panther, 
an animal they greatly dreaded. The inhabitants of the kraal fled 
in consternation, and during the confusion that ensued, Dingaan 
ascended the throne. 

The World's Worst Monster. 

So fell Chaka. The Zulu nation had too long groaned under 
the weight of his tyranny, and had superstitiously bowed to the yoke 



CHAKA, THE ZULU TYRANT. 95 

of his Oppression, until they could no longer bear up under his in- 
satiable and wanton cruelties ; of him it cannot be even said as of 
the scourge of Rome, that. 

Some hand unseen strewed flowers upon his tomb — 

His fall was followed by a general rejoicing throughout the 
country. It afforded to the nation an interval of repose from the 
horrors of war, and from the terror which his savage decrees had 
constantly excited. During his life there had been no security either 
for person or property ; no escape from his barbarous innovations 
and inhuman butcheries. His subjects each had lived from day to 
day in increasing dread lest the recking finger of the tyrant should 
next point at him as a signal for death and devastation. 

To his savage propensities, Chaka added the most extraordinary 
caprices and singular whims ; he lay on his belly to eat his meals 
and compelled his chiefs to do the same in token of their dignity, 
and it was his custom to bathe every morning in public at the head 
of his kraal, first anointing his body with bruised beef, and then 
with an unguent of sheep's tail fat or native butter. Though not a 
cannibal, he was a savage in the truest sense of the word and in- 
herited no redeeming quality. In war an insatiable and exterminating 
fiend, in peace an unrelenting and sanguinary despot ; he kept his 
people in awe by his monstrous executions, and was unrestrained in 
his vicious career because they were ignorant of their power. Ever 
thirsty for the blood of his subjects, the base dissembler could stand 
unmoved, and blandly smile, while he feasted on the execution of his 
atrocious decrees ; or he could assume an expression of deep sorrow 
at the necessity which had called him to issue them. The world has 
been scourged by monsters. Rome had her Nero, the Huns their 
Attila, and Syracuse her Dionysius, the East has likewise produced 
her tyrants ; but Chaka immeasurably eclipsed them all. In san- 
guinary executions, and in refined cruelties, he outstripped all who 
have gone before him in any country. He was a monster — a com- 
pound of vice and ferocity — without one virtue to redeem his name 
from the infamy to which history has consigned it. 



CHAPTER VI 



The Great Trek— Triechard begins the Exodus— Settling the Trans- 
vaal— Moselekatse— War with the Matabeles— An Awful Massacre 
—A Bloody Struggle— Losses of the Boers— A Campaign of 
Vengeance— An Unfortunate Halt— "Trekking" in Earnest- 
Dissensions Arise — In Dingaan's Country — A Savage 
Trick— The Slaughter of the Boers— Massacre at the 
Camp— Flight of the Missionaries— Invading Zulu- 
land— Death of Uys— Another Disaster— Zulu 
Raids— To the Rescue— Action of the Gov- 
ernment—A Halt in the Campaign. 



N the preceding two chapters we have related the story of the ori- 
gin of the discontent of the Dutch settlers, which finally culminated 
in their wholesale exodus from the Cape Colony, known as the 
"Great Trek," and have also given an account of the forbidding and 
formidable character of the natives with whom they were to come into 
contact in the new land. In thus going out from the Cape Colony the 
Boers were violating the law of that colony and were undoubtedly 
incurring upon themselves and their families the most dreadful men- 
aces, many of which were more than realized. Yet they certainly 
had much provocation. No unprejudiced person, who has studied 
the history of that unhappy colony, will hesitate to acknowledge that 
the evils they complained of actually existed. Long subjected to the 
pilferings of a host of Hottentot vagrants, Avhose lives passed in one 
perpetual round of idleness, delinquency, and brutish intoxication on 
the threshold of the gin-shop, the South African settler had, in too 
many instances, been reduced from comparative affluence to want, 
by being unseasonably, and without adequate compensation, bereft 
of the services of his slaves — who, prone to villainy, and no longer 
compelled to labor, only served to s'vell the swarm of drones by 
which it was his destiny to be persecuted. Far greater than these, 
however, were the evils that arose out of the perverse misrepre- 

(96) 




Transvaal State Artillery. 




President Kruger. 



THE GREAT TREK. 97 

sentations of canting and designing men, to whose mischievous and 
gratuitous Interference, veiled under the cloak of philanthropy, was 
principally to be attributed the desolated condition of the eastern 
frontier. Bounded by a dense and almost Impenetrable jungle, to 
defend which nine times the military force employed would barely 
have been adequate ; and flanked by a population of eighty thousand 
dire, irreclaimable savages, naturally Inimical, warlike, and predatory, 
the hearths of the Capp-border colonists had for years been deluged 
with the blood of their nearest relatives. And whilst, during the un- 
provoked Inroads of these ruthless barbarians, their wives and help- 
less offspring had been mercilessly butchered before their eyes ; 
while their corn-fields had been laid waste, their flocks swept ofl", and 
their homes reduced to ruins, to add bitterness to gall, they had been 
taunted as the authors of their own misfortunes, by those who, 
strangely biassed by ex-parte statements, judged them unheard, at 
the distance of several thousand miles from the scene of pillage, 
bloodshed, and devastation. 

It does indeed furnish matter of amazement to every thinking 
person, how such a state of things should so long have been suf- 
fered to exist ; how those who legislated for the affairs of the Colony 
should not have seen the imperious necessity, dictated alike by rea- 
son, justice, and humanity, of repressing In the sternest manner a 
race of monsters, who had forfeited every claim to mercy or consid- 
eration. Denied redress, however, and deprived of the power of 
avenging themselves of the wrong under which they writhed. In utter 
hopelessness of recovering their property, or even enjoying future 
tranquility, the border colonists at length threw off the yoke of their 
allegiance ; and whilst seeking out for themselves an asylum in other 
lands, retorted upon others the injuries they long sustained at home. 

Triechard Begins the Exodus. 

Weary of the insecurity of their homes, several of the frontier 
farmers, who had heard much of the soil and capabilities of Port 
Natal, resolved to decide for themselves on the accuracy of these 
reports, and forming a large party, with ten or twelve wagons, 
proceeded to explore the country. So well pleased were they with 



gS THE GREAT TREK. 

what they saw, that they formed a determination of locating them- 
selves in that neighborhood, and returned forthwith for their families, 
when the breaking out of another Kaffir war obliged them to post- 
pone the execution of their design. 

Shortly after the conclusion of hostilities, the first party of actual 
emigrants, consisting of about thirty families, left the colony under 
the guidance of an Albany farmer, named Louis Triechard. Being 
desirous of eluding the Kaffir tribes, they proceeded across the 
Orange River in a north-easterly direction, skirting the mountain 
chain which divides Kaffraria from Bechuana Land ; with the inten- 
tion, when they had cleared it, of turning to the eastward, and 
gaining the neighborhood of Port Natal. The features presented 
by this barrier are rugged and forbidding in the extreme ; they have 
the appearance of innumerable pyramidical hills thrown together in 
the most grotesque and disorderly manner ; one peak jutting beyond, 
or soaring above the other, as though precluding the possibility of 
any human foot, much less any wheeled vehicle, from passing over ; 
and, from the imperfect knowledge possessed by the wanderers of 
that section of Southern Africa, they were led by the course of the 
mountains far beyond the latitude of Port Natal, and found them- 
selves, about the end of May, 1836, in a fertile but uninhabited waste, 
lying between the 26th and 27th parallels of south latitude, on the 
eastern banks of the large and beautiful river now known as the 
Limpopo, or Crocodile. 

From this point, in order to reach the unoccupied countr)^ 
above Natal, it would have been necessar}^ to traverse the whole 
length of Dingaan's dominions, a journey fraught with difficulties 
of the most formidable kind, and opposed by a climate ot the most 
destructive character. And as the newly discovered country was 
abundantly watered, abounding in game, and affording all the 
materials requisite for building, the further progress of the emigrants 
was for the present discontinued. 

Settling" the Transvaal. 

The example thus set by Louis Triechard was speedily followed 
by many of his countrymen. Numerous parties were formed on the 



THE GREAT TREK. 99 

frontier by the border colonies, who, with their families and flocks, 
crossed the Orange and Vaal rivers and dived into the very depths 
of the wilderness, with no very clear idea perhaps of what their 
ultimate destination was to be, but yet firmly determined to abandon 
their native hearths forever, and to fix their future residence in 
some distant land For the sake of obtaining pasturage for their 
numerous herds, and in opposition to the advice of the missionaries 
through whose station they passed, by whom they were warned of 
the imminent risk that they would incur from the native tribes, they 
scattered themselves heedlessly along the luxuriant banks of the 
Likwa or Vaal river, with the design of remaining until the country in 
advance should be explored, and their plans digested and arranged. 
About the end of May, two parties, headed by J. S. Bronkhorst 
and H. Potgeiter, left the emigrant camp for the purpose of explor- 
ing the country to the north-eastward. They visited Louis Triechard 
at the Zoutpansberg, or Salt-pan-hill, in the northern part of the 
Transvaal, and penetrated sixteen days' journey beyond, through a 
lovely, fertile, and unoccupied country, until they arrived within six 
days' journey of Delagoa Bay, where they met with two sons of the 
notorious Conrad Bay, living amongst a friendly tribe of natives, 
whom, from a peculiarity in the nasal prominence, they dignified 
with the appellation of "knob-nosed Kaffirs." Returning hence by 
a nearer route with the account of their success, and of the discovery 
of a land flowing with milk and honey, they found their camp totally 
deserted, and the ground strewed with the mutilated bodies of their 
friends and relatives. The migratory farmers had been attacked 
three days before, by Moselekatse, the native chief of the Transvaal 
region, and twenty-eight of their number had been butchered. 

Moselekatse. 

The country over which this powerful and despotic prince 
claimed sovereignty was of great extent, and was bounded on the 
south by the Vaal river. From that direction he had been re- 
peatedly attacked by Jan Bloem, a notorious and often successful 
^freebooter, and by other leaders of predatory bands of Griquas, 
'^who had scoured his territories, and swept away his cattle. In 1831 



lOO THE GREAT TREK. 

he was last attacked by a strong commando of Barend Barend's 
Griquas, who succeeded in obtaining possession of the whole of the 
Matabele herds ; and, all the regular warriors of Moselekatse being 
absent at the time on an expedition to the northward, the ruin of the 
tribe had nearly been accomplished. Owing, however, to a want of 
proper precaution on the part of the invaders, they were signally 
defeated by a mere handful of irregulars, who attacked them during 
the night, and ere day dawned, had slaughtered the greater part 
of them. 

Since that occurrence, Moselekatse had publicly and positively 
prohibited any trader or traveller from visiting him, or entering his 
territories from that quarter; whilst, to guard against the inroads of 
his enemies, strong armed parties were frequently sent to scour the 
countr}^ watered by the Vaal. But, on the other hand, he declared 
his willingness to receive as friends those visitors who might find it 
convenient to approach him by way of Kuruman or New Litakoo, 
having the most implicit confidence in Mr. Moffat, the enlightened 
missionary at that station, through whose assistance only they could 
effect an entrance. 

War with the Matabeles. 

Can it be wondered at, under these circumstances, that 
Moselekatse should have viewed with a jealous and suspicious eye 
the sudden advance of so formidable a body of strangers from the 
forbidden quarter, to the very borders, if not actually within the 
confines, of his territory ? Without so fair a pretext as their open 
defiance of his commands afforded him, would it have been surpris- 
ing that the temptation afforded by the fat flocks and herds of his 
new, opulent and very unceremonious neighbors, should have in- 
duced the despot to impart a lesson which might inculcate the 
necessityof at least propitiating him with presents, which are known 
to be the only sure road to the friendship or good of^ces of a savage? 
Towards the close of August, a commando, consisting of about five 
hundred Matabele warriors, was despatched from Mosega for this 
very purpose. On their way to plunder the emigrants, who were 
encamped in scattered detachments along the Vaal river, they 



THE GREAT TREK. lOI 

accidentally fell in with Stephanus Erasmus, who had been on a 
hunting expedition still further to the northward, and was then on 
his return to the colony by the forbidden route. Arriving at his 
wagons in the evening with one of his sons, and finding them sur- 
rounded by a host of armed savages, he precipitately fled to the 
nearest emigrant camp, about five hours' ride on horseback from his 
Dwn, where, having succeeded in persuading a party of eleven 
farmers to accompany him, he returned towards the spot. On the 
way thither they were met by the barbarians, whose impetuous 
onsets obliged them to seek refuge within the encampment. A 
severe struggle ensued, with the loss, on the part of the farmers, of 
only one man named Bronkhorst. 

An Awful Massacre. 

This was, however, but the prelude to a more bloody tragedy. 
A party of the Matabele soldiers had in the meantime detached 
itself from the main body, and fallen upon nine other wagons that 
were assembled at a distance from the principal camp. The wagons 
were saved, but the greater part of the flocks and herds were carried 
off, and twenty-four persons massacred. Six days after this catas- 
trophe, Erasmus' curiosity prompted him to ascertain the fate of his 
family and property. Proceeding to the spot, he found the bodies 
of his five black slaves, and could distinguish the wheel tracks of his 
hvQ wagons going in a northerly direction. Two of his sons, and 
a youth named Carel Kruger had been taken prisoners, and it was 
afterwards ascertained, that having attempted to effect their escape, 
they were mercilessly put to death on the way to the king. 

Almost immediately after this disastrous occurrence, being re- 
joined by the parties that had proceeded to explore the north-east 
country, the migratory farmers fell back about four days' journey 
from their first position to the south side of the Vaal river, and 
encamped near the embouchure of the Donkin — one of its principal 
tributaries, called by the natives the Nama-Hari. Here they re- 
mained in blind and fancied security, without taking any steps 
towards an amicable understanding with the king, until the end of 
October. They had scarcely recovered from the confusion into 



T02 THE GREAT TREK. 

which they had been thrown by the first attack, when, to their great 
consternation, they received intimation of the near approach of 
another and far more formidable body of Moselekatse's w^arriors. 
Retreat being impossible, they sedulously applied themselves to 
fortifying their position. 

A Bloody Struggle. 

They drew up their fifty wagons in a compact circle, closing the 
apertures between and beneath them with thorn-bushes, which they 
firmly lashed with leathern thongs to the wheels and disselbooms ; 
and constructing within the enclosure so formed, a smaller one for 
the protection of the women and children. These arrangements 
hastily completed, they rode forth to confront the enemy, whom they 
presently met in number about five thousand on their march towards 
the camp, w^hen some skirmishing took place, in which several of 
the Matabele were slain. It has already been remarked that their 
principal w^eapon was a short spear or assegai, termed unkonto, 
which was not thrown, as with the Kaffir tribes, but used for 
stabbing, for which purpose they rushed in at once upon their 
opponents. 

Their numbers and impetuosity rendered it impossible to keep 
them from the wagons, and the farmers retired within the enclosure; 
where, by the time their guns were cleansed, they were furiously 
assaulted by the barbarian horde, who, with savage yells and hideous 
war-cries, poured down like locusts upon the encampment. Closing 
around the circle, and charging the abattis with determined resolu- 
tion, again and again did they endeavor to break through the line, 
or clamber over the awnings of the wagons. Dealing, however, with 
men whose lives were the stake, their attacks were as constantly 
repelled. Repeated volleys of slugs and buck-shot, discharged at 
arm's-length from the heavy bores of the besieged, ploughed through 
their crowded ranks : 

Even as they fell, in files they lay, 
■Like the mower's grass at the close of day, 
When his work is done on the levell'd plain ; 
Such was the fall of the foremost slain. 



THE GREAT TREK. , I03 

A desperate struggle of fifteen minutes terminated in their dis- 
comfiture. Hurling their javelins into the enclosure, they retired in 
confusion over the heaps of slain, leaving upwards of one hundred 
and fifty of their number dead or disabled on the field. 

Losses of the Boers. 

In this affair, which took place on the 29th of October, Nicholaas 
Potgeiter and Piet Botha were killed behind the stockade, and twelve 
other farmers were severely wounded. The assault was led in 
person by Kalipi, Moselekatse's principal captain, and most confi- 
dential counsellor. Although shot through the knee, he contrived 
to make good his retreat, nor did he retire empty-handed; the whole 
of the flocks and herds of the emigrants, amounting to six thousand 
head of cattle, and forty-one thousand sheep and goats, being swept 
away by the barbarians, and safely conducted to Kapain. Remount- 
ing their horses, the farmers took advantage of the retreat of their 
savage foes, to add a few more to the list of slain, until the sun 
descending below the horizon, let drop the curtain upon the scene 
of carnage. 

This second gentle hint on the part of his Majesty had the 
desired effect. A portion of the farmers remained with the wreck 
of the late flourishing camp, whilst others, with all possible haste, 
conveyed the women and children to the Rev. Mr. Archbell's 
missionary station at Thaba Uncha ; whence, having procured fresh 
oxen, the whole party fell back, and encamped near the sources of 
the Modder river. Here their numbers were shortly reinforced by 
a strong detachment of emigrants under the guidance of Gert 
Maritz, a wealthy and ambitious burgher, from Graaff Reinet, who 
soon contrived to cause himself to be elected governor-general. At 
this period about two hundred and fifty wagons were assembled near 
the populous Barolong village of Thaba Uncha, and the number of 
souls may be estimated at about eighteen hundred. 

A Campaign of Vengreance. 

Maritz's first step, after assuming the reins of government, was 
to assemble a force for the purpose of retaliating upon the Amazulu 



I04 THE GREAT TREK. 

monarch the injuries that the emigrants had received at his hands ; 
but for which, in truth, they had alone to thank their own obstinacy 
and imprudence. On the 3d of January, 1837, a commando, con- 
sisting of one hundred and seven Dutch farmers, forty of Peter 
David's mounted Griquas, and sixty armed savages on foot, left 
Thaba Uncha on their march to invade Moselekatse's country, under 
the guidance of a warrior, who, having been taken prisoner in the 
affair of the 29th October, durst never again present himself before 
his royal master. Keeping considerably to the westward of north, 
they crossed the head of the Hart river, and struck into the Kuru- 
man road — by this masterly manoeuvre approaching the Matabele 
from the very quarter whence they were least prepared to expect an 
attack, A lovely and fertile valley, bounded on the north and north- 
east by the Kurrichane mountains, and in form resembling a basin 
of ten or twelve miles in circumference, contained the military town 
of Mosega, and fifteen other of Moselekatse's principal kraals, in 
which resided Kalipi, and a large portion of the fighting men. To 
this spot were the steps of the emigrant farmers directed. 

As the first streaks of light ushered in the morning of the 
17th of January, Maritz's little band suddenly and silently emerged 
from a pass in the hills behind the houses of American missionaries ; 
and ere the sun had reached the zenith, the bodies of four hundred 
chosen Matabele warriors, the flower of barbarian chivalry, garnished 
the blood-stained valley of Mosega. Not a creature was aware of 
the approach of danger, and the entrance of a rifle-ball by one of 
the bed-room windows, was the first intimation received by the 
missionaries of the impending onslaught. One of their domestics, 
Baba, a converted Bechuana, being mistaken for a Zulu, was hotly 
pursued to the river, into which he plunged, hippopotamus-like, and 
narrowly escaped annihilation by counterfeiting death, after three 
bullets had whistled past his protruded head. So perfect were the 
military dispositions which the information afforded by the captive 
had suggested, that the valley was completely invested, and no 
avenue of escape remained. The Matabele flew to arms at the first 
alarm, and bravely defended themselves, but were shot like sparrows 



THE GREAT TREK. IO5 

as fast as they appeared outside of the inclosure, nor did they 
succeed in perforating the leathern doublet of a single Dutchman. 
But the star of Moselekatse was still in the ascendant. At the time 
of this successful attack he was residing at Kapain, fifty miles farther 
to the northward ; and Kalipi, having singularly enough been sum- 
moned thither only the day before, escaped the fate of a large pro- 
portion of his brave but unfortunate followers. 

An Unfortunate Halt. 

Had Maritz followed up the advantage thus gained, and marched 
at once upon Kapain, Moselekatse could not possibly have effected 
his escape. Inflated by the recent success of his arms, the despot 
was basking in the sunshine of security, little dreaming of so sudden 
an invasion. Struck at that moment, another blow would have 
completed the work of destruction, and left the emigrants to pursue 
their pilgrimage in safety. Blind, however, to the obvious course 
they should have pursued, and content for the present with what 
they had achieved, the Boers secured seven thousand head of cattle, 
and the wagons that had been taken from Erasmus, with which they 
immediately set out on their return, by forced marches ; and, accom- 
panied by the American missionaries, who, whilst they reasonably 
dreaded the summary vengeance of the exasperated savage, had 
now no further field for their labors — arrived in a few days at 
Thaba Uncha, without molestation or pursuit on the part of the 
Matabele. 

"Trekking"" in Earnest. 

Magical indeed was the effect which the news of this victory 
produced upon the Duch colonist. It fanned the smouldering embers 
of the epidemic into a flame, and caused the rage for emigration to 
burst forth and spread like wildfire. The promise of land unlimited, 
and of relief from taxation, tempted hundreds whose remoteness 
from the border had smothered the incentives which actuated the 
original projectors of the scheme. Another class, who, like the bat 
in the fable, had been prudently watching the turn that aflairs would 
take, now openly avowed their abhorrence of the English rule, and 
freed themselves from its trammels. Some having yielded to the 



I06 THE GREAT TREK. 

claims of relationship, went because their kinsmen had gone ; others 
to gratify their ambition, their love of venture, or passion for a 
nomadic life ; and not a few from a natural desire to participate in 
the loaves and fishes. For several weeks the whole of the frontier 
line was in a state of ferment and commotion, and large caravans 
were daily to be seen hurrying across the border, and flocking to the 
standard of their expatriated countrymen. 

In the month of April, Piet Retief, a gallant and distinguished 
field-cornet of the Winterberg, who, with a very large cavalcade was 
encamped at a distance from Maritz, was induced, after much 
entreaty and persuasion, to accept the office of Governor and 
Commander-in-Chief — a post which he was eminently qualified to fill, 
and to which he was elected by the unanimous voice of the united 
emigrants. He appointed subordinate officers, enacted wholesome 
laws, and ratified treaties which had already been concluded with the 
neighboring native chiefs, the principal of whom were Sikonycla 
king of the Mantatees ; Moshesh, chief of the Basuto ; Moroko, chief 
of the Barolongs at Thaba Uncha ; Taunani, chief of the remnant of 
the Baharootzi ; and Peter David, captain of the Lishuani Bastaards. 
One and all were the deadly enemies of Moselekatse, ready to take 
up arms against him on the slightest reverse of his fortune. 

These arrangements completed, the emigrants once more 
advanced towards the scene of their former misfortunes, and in May, 
1837, upwards of one thousand wagons, and sixteen hundred efficient 
fighting men, with their wives, families and followers, were assembled 
near the confluence of the branches of the Vet Riviere. 

Dissensions Arise. 

The wanderers on the Vet Riviere made active preparations for 
waging against the Matabele a war of extermination; but that project 
was never carried into execution. Receiving timely intimation of 
their designs, the wily Moselekatse prudently withdrew to more se- 
cure quarters beyond the Southern Tropic, and left the white intru- 
ders at liberty to assume undisputed possession of his verdant 
dominions, until an opportunity should present itself for striking a 
decisive blow. Discord next scattered her seeds among the little 



THE GREAT TREK. 10/ 

community — depressing their social condition, and producing in- 
ternal disunion that soon led to their subdivision into three parties, 
of which each had in view a separate destination. Whilst one was 
wedded to the project of joining Louis Triechard in the unhealthy 
regions bordering upon Delagoa, a second would listen to but one pro- 
posal, that of sitting down in the rich pastures abandoned by the 
Amazulu. But Retief, who retained his influence over the princi- 
pal party, had reverted to the original scheme of settling on the 
Natal coast ; and from him emanated a manifesto in which emigrants 
were made to renounce their allegiance to the British Government, 
their object, according to resolutions adopted at Caledon on the 14th 
of August, 1837, being to "establish a settlement on the same prin- 
ciples of liberty as those adopted by the United States of America* 
carrying into effect as far as might be practicable, the Burgher laws " 

In Dingaan's Country. 

It was not long after this open declaration of rebellion, that Retief 
and his followers succeeded in finding a passage over the Draaken- 
berg, or Quathlamba mountains, a tedious journey through a difficult 
and before untrodden country ; bringing them, during the month of 
October, within the dominions of the Autocrat of all the Zulus — 
Dingaan, brother and successor of Chaka. Their intention from the 
first had been to proceed straightway to Dingaan, in order to nego- 
tiate for the cession of territory near Port Natal : but an event 
occurred which served to accelerate their advance. A strong de- 
tachment of the despot's warriors, spear in hand, suddenly appeared 
outside the emigrant camp, upon the trail of some cattle that had 
recently been carried off in a foray by Sikenyela, King of the Man- 
tatees — a prince with whom the former had long been engaged in 
active hostilities ; but who, by clinging to the mountain fastnesses 
about the rugged sources of the Nu Gareep, had hitherto derided 
the Zulu javelin, and manfully maintained his own independence. 
Not relishing the warlike appearance of the Dutch cavalcade, the 
warriors turned back for a reinforcement ; and Retief receiving inti- 
mation of the danger that impended, and perceiving also that ap- 
pearances were greatly against him, lost not a moment in sending 



I08 THE GREAT TREK. 

to the king a conciliatory message, disclaiming on the part of the 
Boers any share in the recent depredation. Dingaan "thanked him 
for the word," but replied, "that since the oxen had been traced to 
Retiefs camp, he should of course not only hold him responsible for 
their immediate restoration, but for the capture also of the ' thief 
who stole them ; ' " and this equitable adjustment having been fully 
agreed to, the commandant paid a visit of ceremony to the despot, 
and was received at Unkunkinglove, the Zulu metropolis, with much 
apparent cordiality. Aware of the predilection of his guests for the 
**beest-jees," and bent upon a display of his own wealth, the bar- 
barian chief took advantage of the interview to exhibit his carefully 
assorted droves of horned cattle, the smallest of which consisted of 
nearly three thousand head of white backs, all pied precisely alike. 
His red and black herds were countless as the sand on the sea- 
shore ; and the farmers saw with amazement that many were trained 
to take a prominent part in the Zula war dance, and other such 
savage exhibitions. 

A Savage Trick. 

Completely thrown off his guard by the mock hospitality ob- 
served towards him by Dingaan, Retief shortly proceeded to fulfil 
his engagement by recovering the booty taken by the Mantatees. 
This object was speedily accomplished, but in consequence of the 
amicable understanding that subsisted between the emigrants and 
Sikonyela, that chieftain was not delivered up to the tender mercies 
of the tyrant — a breach of the agreement at which the latter appears 
to have been greatly incensed. On the 3rd of February, 1838, Re- 
tief returned to the capital, and made over the booty which he had 
captured, amounting to seven hundred head of oxen, and some sixty 
or seventy horses. He was accompanied to the royal lodge by sixty- 
three Boers with their achter ryders, or henchmen, making in all 
about one hundred men. The party entered Unkunkinglove firing 
off their roers, and making an ostentatious exhibition of their eques- 
trian skill, with the design probably of instilling respect into the 
mind of the savage potentate, by whom they were again received 
with every outward demonstration of friendship. In return for the 



THE GREAT TREK. I09 

signal service they had rendered to the State, he bestowed upon 
them the whole of the unoccupied territory lying between the Tugala 
and Unzimfooboo, and styled Natal ; of which, notwithstanding that 
he had already given it away some tw^enty times under similar cir- 
cumstances, he expressed his arbitrary will and pleasure that they 
should assume immediate possession. 

But it was not written on the page of Retief's destiny that he 
should enter upon this land of promise. The sanguinary vengeance 
wreaked upon Moselekatse was yet green in the royal recollection ; 
and although naturally pleased at the humiliation of his ancient foe, 
the despot, who could not but tremble at the proximity of such for- 
midable neighbors, had resolved, lest it might next be his own turn 
to smart under their lash, that he would at once take measures to 
get rid of them. 

The Slaughter of the Boers. 

All preliminary matters having been finally arranged to the 
entire satisfaction of both parties, a formal treaty of alliance was 
concluded with the despot, and the unsuspecting Boers had saddled 
their steeds on the morning of the 6th in order to return to their 
camp, when they were unexpectedly summoned to a great dance 
and carousal in honor of their approaching departure. On pretext 
of the king's anxiety that his white guests should take an active part 
in the festivities, they were requested not to bring their muskets ; 
upon hearing which, Thomas Halstead, a young man belonging to 
the settlement at Port Natal, who had accompanied the expedition 
in capacity of interpreter, acquainted Retief that he had received 
private intimation of meditated treachery on the part of the king, 
and advised his being on his guard; but completely blinded by the 
duplicity that had been practised, this warning voice was disregarded, 
and the whole party proceeded, and in an evil hour unarmed, into 
the royal presence, to return thence no more ! 

During the interview, three thousand Zulu warriors standing 
up to dance, formed a ring around them, and for some time alter- 
nately retreated and advanced in the customary manner — until 
gradually pressing closer — they at length upon a signal made by 



no ^ THE GREAT TREK. 

DIngaan, whilst the farmers were in the act of quaffing the malt 
liquor, which had been liberally handed round, rushed with one 
accord upon their defenceless victims. The devoted Dutchmen 
were dragged about half a mile across the river by the hair of the 
head, and their leader having been first ostentatiously butchered, 
the Zulus fell upon and despatched the rest — knocking out the 
brains of some with their war clubs, impaling and twisting the necks 
of others. Halstead, unable to quiet his own apprehensions, had 
concealed in his coat-sleeve an open clasp-knife, with which he 
stabbed two of the warriors who were preparing to seize him ; and 
for this achievement, after having been made the spectator of the 
horrible massacre of his hapless companions, he was skinned alive, 
and finally put to death by means of the most revolting and barbar- 
ous cruelties. 

Massacre at the Camp. 

It subsequently transpired that Retief and his infatuated com- 
patriots had owed their safety on a former occasion to the disobedi- 
ence of the chief, who had been instructed by Dingaan to destroy 
them ; and who, being doomed to pay the penalty of his rebellion, 
had narrowly escaped with life to Port Natal. Together with the 
news of the treacherous massacre just detailed, intelligence was also 
carried to the English settlement, that immediately upon the com- 
pletion of the bloody work, his Majesty had detached an over- 
whelming force to surprise the emigrant camp. Messengers were 
thereupon instantly despatched to warn the intended victims of their 
danger, but in consequence of the swollen state of the rivers, they 
unfortunately did not arrive in time to avert the calamity. Fatally 
blind to their perilous situation, and relying implicitly upon the 
specious promises of a crafty and covetous savage, in whose eyes 
human blood is accounted as a drop of water, the emigrants had 
never dreamt of an attack, and were totally unprepared to receive 
it. Scrupulously did the Zulu warriors carry into execution the 
inhuman mandate of their treacherous master. In the dead of the 
night of the 17th of February, ten thousand savages dashed pell- 
mell into the slumbering camp; and arousing its drowsy inmates 



THE GREAT TREK. Ill 

with whoop and yell from their dreams of peace and security, drove 
off twenty thousand head of cattle, and indiscriminately butchered 
between five and six hundred souls, without reference either to age 
or sex — barbarously mutilating and cutting off the breasts of the 
women, and crowning the massacre by dashing out the brains of 
their helpless babes against the wheels of the wagons. 

Flight of the Missionaries. 

Immediately before this tragedy was enacted, a rabble force, 
consisting of nearly one thousand English and native settlers, had 
most unadvisedly marched from Port Natal with the design of assist- 
ing the emigrants ; but arriving in the desolated camp too late, and 
finding that the enemy, to a man, had repaired by the king's orders 
to Unkunkinglove, in anticipation of a general attack upon the 
capital, they returned whence they came with four thousand head of 
cattle, and five hundred female captives. To realize this booty not 
a blow had been struck, but it was afterwards re-taken with the most 
ruinous retaliation. The American missionaries, who, it will be 
remembered, were compelled to abandon Mosega after the affair of 
the 17th of January, had joined their colleagues at Natal; and being 
again frustrated in their pious object, some of them now finally 
withdrew from the scene of slaughter, and set sail for the Colony in 
a small barque which was on the point of leaving the port. It would 
not appear that the autocrat of the Zulus had encouraged the pres- 
ence of the missionaries amongst his people with a much better 
grace than his rival to the northward ; nor indeed had he any great 
reason to be vain of their presence, if an opinion may be formed 
from his reply to one of those who tarried behind, and subsequently 
sought permission to discontinue his labors. '^Get you gone," said 
the despotic monarch, "and with all speed. Had this application 
not come from yourselves, I must have turned you out of the land, 
learning as I do from the girls of my family that you never speak of 
me but as a liar and a murderer, and are continually praying to 
Heaven for deliverance from so foul a villain." The ladies of the 
seraglio on being summoned into the royal presence, did not fail to 
bear testimony to the flattering encomiums which had been passed 



112 THE GREAT TREK. 

on their liege lord by the ''white teachers," who — to the renown of 
Dingaan be it written — were nevertheless suffered to depart out of 
the kingdom without hindrance or molestation. 

Invading^ Zuiuland. 

Affairs had now reached a portentous crisis. The emigrants 
composing the nearest reserve division on the western side of the 
Draakenberg were not long in resolving to make an irruption into 
the Zulu country, in order to retaliate upon the head of the ruthless 
savage, the promiscuous and wanton slaughter of their hapless 
countrymen. On the 6th of April, a force consisting of nearly four 
hundred mounted Boers from the second encampment, marched 
upon Unkunkinglove under the command of Piet Uys and Jacobus 
Potgeiter. The former of these was a patriarch, who during the 
preceding year had abandoned the colony under peculiar circum- 
stances, with his descendants to the third generation. Many of these 
had already miserably perished, and It was now the veteran's turn to 
mingle his bones with theirs, unburied. In a distant land. Entering 
Dingaan' s territories from the westward, the Invading force found 
the country depopulated, not the smallest opposition being offered 
until they arrived within sight of Unkunkinglove, when they per- 
ceived the whole Zulu army drawn up on the heights for the defence 
of the capital. Two divisions were advantageously posted on some 
rocks which formed a crescent, through a long narrow defile In which 
lay the road to the royal residence ; whilst a third was placed in 
ambuscade, with orders to close in upon the rear of the attacking 
party, when it should have entered the cul de sac. 

The vast superiority of the enemy In point of numbers was not 
more apparent than the excellence of their military dispositions; 
but the emigrants divided into two nearly equal detachments, and 
at once opposed themselves to those of the barbarian army. 

The horses of Potgeiter's division, taking fright at the beating 
of shields and the energetic war-whoops of the warriors, it was 
thrown into Irrecoverable confusion, and routed at the very onset; 
the second division, under old Uys, being thus left to sustain a simul- 
taneous charge from the whole Zulu host, 



e 




4.« f 



«w? 



f-; 




m?^.. :'S:>^"W§^^ff'^tW.. t^/!^- f g--^'".-"-^4g'" ' wy'^"'°Wf' ^'^-^■^^--'^- 



-'^v.-.g^ , .A....>i:^ .;e£!^i 



Zulu Warrior in Full Fighting Dress. 




A Dutch Vrouw. 



THE GREAT TREK. II3 

Death of Uys. 

Nobly had the Httle band acquitted itself of this duty, when its 
hoary leader, taking advantage of the consternation occasioned by 
his steady and well-directed fire, dashed gallantly forward at the 
head of twenty of his men, in order to save the life of a comrade, 
who had been thrown from his horse into a deep and broad gully, 
forming the bed of a mountain torrent. Opposed by a perpendicular 
wall of rock, he was hemmed into the defile, and completely encom- 
passed by the savages. His son, a youth only twelve years of age, 
bravely fought and was the first to die by the side of his aged sire, 
who, himself pierced through the thigh with an assegai, and fast 
sinking from loss of blood, continued to sell his life dearly, but 
covered with wounds, he at length fell with nine of his companions, 
exclaiming with his last breath, '' Fight your way out, my gallant 
lads — it is my fate to die." 

It the meantime, the main body of the Zulu army had rallied 
and encompassed the comparative handful of Dutchmen on every 
side. The battle raged an hour and a half at fearful odds, and the 
position of the emigrants was momentarily becoming more obviously 
desperate. Directing a steady fire to one point, however, they at 
length cleft a breach through the enemy's ranks, and effected their 
retreat with considerable loss, leaving upwards of one thousand of 
the savages stretched upon the field. A general pursuit followed 
on the part of the victorious Zulus, until the country becoming more 
open and many others of their number being shot, they finally 
retired, sending a few spies to hover in the rear of the farmers, and 
ascertain where they should bivouac for the night. But the object 
of this manoeuvre being perceived, a party of Boers concealed them- 
selves in a high field of Indian corn, and intercepting the scouts, 
left not one alive to fulfill the errand upon which he had been deputed. 

Another Disaster. 

On the very day that this severe action was fought, the Natal 
settlers, under an Englishman named Biggar, again marched from 
the port in order to co-operate with the Boers ; but of eight or nine 
hundred men, colored and European, who composed the force, 



114 THE GREAT TREK. 

scarcely more than half that number were provided with muskets or 
ammunition. On the 17th they reached the Tugela river, near 
which was a military post under the command of a captain styled 
Zola. It was situated immediately under the brow of a bleak hill, 
the country below which was intersected by numerous bare and deep 
ravines. The commando attempted to carry this position, but whilst 
engaged, the enemy were unexpectedly reinforced by the whole 
Zulu army, twelve thousand strong, flushed with the recent victory 
it had achieved, and bent upon the destruction of the settlement. 

The Natal force immediately formed into a circle, those who 
carried muskets occupying the front rank, and covering the spear- 
men in the centre. A desperate and bloody struggle of several 
hours' duration again terminated most disastrously. The fearful 
odds opposed to the settlers finally prevailed — their ranks were 
broken, and the Zulu horde rushed in. Two-thirds of the Natal 
settlers were slain ; Biggar and thirteen other of the principal 
European inhabitants being amongst the number ; and whilst of this 
ill-fated expedition, two hundred and thirty only survived to return 
to Natal, the victorious barbarians are said to have sacrificed in the 
contest no less than three entire regiments, each consisting of one 
thousand men. 

Zulu Raids. 

In the interval, arrangements were making on the part of the 
emigrants for the protection of Natal ; but although two hundred 
Boers were despatched from the nearest camp without a moment's 
delay, the settlement had been destroyed, and the whole country 
ravaged north of the port before their arrival. Following up their 
success, the greedy Zulus poured down like a wasting swarm of 
locusts upon the undefended location, and, remaining several days, 
swept off thence, and from Captain Gardiner's missionary station of 
Berea, the greater part of the property and the whole of the cattle. 
The native settlers, who consisted chiefly of deserters from Dingaan, 
had previously betaken themselves to the bush, where their women 
and children were mercilessly hunted down and speared. Fortu- 
nately for the few surviving whites, and those of the missionaries 



THE GREAT TREK. I I 5 

who had tarried behind, they were enabled to take refuge, with the 
remnant of their movable effects, on board the Comet, a brig which 
happened to be riding in the harbor at the time that the disastrous 
intelligence was received of the annihilation of the commando. 
From the deck of the vessel the barbarians could be perceived flock- 
ing over the heights, which were darkened for miles with their con- 
gregated hosts ; — an occasioned shot discharged amongst them hav- 
ing the effect of deterring the infuriated horde from approaching the 
shore whilst the embarkation was being completed. 

To the Rescue. 

Such was the posture of affairs at Port Natal, when the intelli- 
gence of these successive disasters was conveyed to the trans- 
montane division. Maritz, the only surviving leader of the emi- 
grants, promptly exerted himself to obtain reinforcements from 
among those families that were still residing on the Reit and the 
Modder rivers, designing to march at once to the succor of the 
unfortunate parties which had been led by Uys and Retief. About 
the beginning of May, field-cornet Gideon Joubert, of New Hantam, 
proceeded across the colonial boundary to his assistance, and was 
joined by Michael Oberholster, with nearly one hundred auxiliaries 
from the Reit river. They advanced to Natal, and having taken 
possession of the port in the name of the united emigrants, left a 
strong party for its protection : bringing away thence a long train of 
wagons, with which, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, they 
joined the distressed compatriots, and finally encamped about ten 
hours' ride from the bay, in an open position free from jungle and 
ravines — disposing themselves in such a manner as to be able to 
form a junction at the shortest notice, should occasion require. 

Action of the Government. 

The colonial authorities were in the meantime using their ut- 
most exertions to stem the torrent of emigration, but without avail. 
In a proclamation by the Governor, dated Cape Town, 26th April, 
1838, "His Excellency earnestly exhorts the civil commissioners, 
and all public functionaries throughout the colony, as well as all 



Il6 THE GREAT TREK. 

ministers of religion, and other persons of sound views, who cannot 
but foresee the inevitable result of the prevailing mania for emigra- 
tion, to endeavor by ever}' means In their power to dissuade intend- 
ing emigrants from the prosecution of their plans, which cannot fail 
sooner or later to involve themselves and their families who are 
prepared to accompany them, in certain and irretrievable ruin." 
Field-cornet Joubert had been charged by the Government to report 
upon the condition of the emigrants, and to demand all the lately 
manumitted slaves that might not be desirous of remaining with 
their masters at Natal. He was likewise made the bearer of over- 
tures permitting the return of the farmers within the limits of Her 
Majesty's South African dominion : remitting all pains and penalties, 
and extending a free pardon to those who might renew their domi- 
cile and avocations before the first of January following. Of this 
Indulgence, some few manifested a disposition to avail themselves, 
but the result of their deliberation being referred to their vrouws, 
without whose gentle acquiescence nothing of consequence might 
be undertaken, the heroines peremptorily declined to retrace their 
steps, until summary vengeance should have been wrecked upon the 
head of the merciless Dingaan, for the blood he had so wantonly 
spilled. 

A Halt in the Campaign. 

Maritz's force amounted at this period to six hundred and fifty 
men capable of bearing arms ; their women, children, and followers, 
exceeding three thousand five hundred. With a hundred mounted 
whites, and four pieces of light ordnance, he proposed to have 
marched against Dingaan in the beginning of June, advancing direct 
upon the capital, and taking fifty wagons with which to form an en- 
trenchment for security during the night. But his unexpected de- 
mise, whilst it deprived the emigrants of the most energetic of their 
leaders, put a stop for a time to the projected campaign ; and Land- 
mann, who was elected generalissimo in his room, succeeded in con- 
vincing them of the wisdom of suspending operations until the en- 
suing spring, when their horses, only three hundred of which were 
at that time fit for service, should have been recruited by rest and 



THE GREAT TREK. 1 I 7 

fine pasture. To men whose numerical inferiority was counter- 
balanced chiefly by their equestrian habits, this was obviously a con- 
sideration of the highest importance ; and as the king was known to 
avoid military expedition during the winter, from the circumstance 
of the slender costume of his warriors being so ill adapted to meet 
the severity of the climate, it was resolved to postpone hostilities 
until after the season had reopened. Having fortified their camp, 
therefore, as far as circumstances would admit, the isolated emigrants 
frequently sent out strong patrols to observe the motions of their 
arch enemy, carrying on their agricultural pursuits at the same time, 
to a limited extent, and making every preparation for a final effort, 
the success of which should decide whether they were to settle per- 
manently at Natal, or repitch their tents upon the plains that are 
watered by the tributaries of the Likwa. 



CHAPTER VII 



The Great Kaffir War— A Change of Policy— Advance in Education- 
The "War of the Axe"— Sir Harry Smith — Missionaries and 
Convicts— Witch Doctors Cause Trouble— British Disasters 
— The Birkenhead— Progress of the War— Sir George 
Grey— The Kosa Kaffirs— A Disastrous Movement 
—Sending Aid to India— South African Feder- 
ation—Progress at the Cape — The Dis- 
covery of Diamonds— End of 
Kaffir Troubles. 



THE Kosa Kaffirs, in numbers of armed warriors variously esti- 
mated at 12,000 to 20,000, crossed the frontier in a sudden 
and well-planned invasion of Cape Colony on the evening of 
Sunday, December 21st, 1834. The territory from Somerset 
East to Algoa Bay was laid waste with the slaughter of many whites, 
the burning of the houses and the sweeping off of the cattle, horses 
and all kinds of movable property. About 7000 colonists were 
ruined in the loss, as officially proved, of over 5000 horses, 100,000 
cattle, and 160,000 sheep. Grahamtown, Bathurst and other towns 
were crowded with fugitives, and a beautiful and fertile province 
became a desert. Colonel Smith, a Peninsular veteran, who was 
afterwards Sir Harry Smith, the victor of Aliwal in the first Sikh 
War in India, hastened from Cape Town to take command of the 
troops, and was speedily followed by D' Urban, the Governor. A 
general muster of *' Burghers " was made, and these forces were 
united to 400 infantry and 200 mounted Hottentots under Colonel 
Somerset at Grahamtown, with four companies of foot and a troop 
of horse brought by Smith in an almost incessant march of six days 
and nights. The Governor took with him a very welcome aid in 
the 72d Highlanders (now the famous *' Seaforths "), who had just 
reached the Cape on their voyage to India. 

(118) 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. I 1 9 

By the middle of February, 1835, the invaders were driven 
beyond the Keiskama, and two months later an inroad was made 
into their territory. The strength of the invaders could not be re- 
sisted. Camps were formed by the British commander in positions 
whence the " bush " could be scoured in all directions. Hintsa, the 
paramount chief of the Kosas, made his submission, and, attempting 
to escape when he was acting as guide to the place where a large 
number of stolen cattle were kept, he was shot dead by a colonist 
who pursued him. His son and successor, Kreli, already in the 
Governor's hands as a hostage, was allowed to make peace by the 
surrender of 50,000 cattle and 1000 horses as an instalment of com- 
pensation for the colonists. 

One pleasing result of this victorious expedition was the de- 
liverance, by British arms, of a whole enslaved people. These were 
the Fingos, or "wanderers," the wretched remnant of various tribes 
from the North, shattered by the Zulu power, and living in serfdom 
among the Kosa Kaffirs. They had welcomed and aided the British 
invaders, and now had their reward in passing, to the number of 
4000 men, 6600 women and 11,700 children, from the grasp of their 
former cruel masters to a state of freedom as British subjects. 
They were provided, at the cost of the Kosas, with many thousand 
cattle to stock their new lands, and the troops and armed settlers of 
Cape Colony saw them march along, the women bearing baskets of 
corn, sleeping-mats, cooking-pots and milking buckets, with a child 
or two on many a back. Wild songs of rejoicing came from the 
full hearts of a rescued nation, who cried, "We go to the place of 
the good people." The Fingos, thus released on May 7th, 1835, 
became loyal and useful inhabitants of the colony. 

A Change of Policy. 

Sir Benjamin D' Urban, seeking to hinder future attempts at 
invasion from the Northeast, wisely extended the boundary of the 
colony to the Kei River, and created a new province called "Queen 
Adelaide," with a chain of military posts for the defence of the front- 
ier. This action was reversed by a Whig Minister in London, 
Lord Glenelg, a man opposed to colonial extension ; an ardent 



120 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

philanthropist ready to beHeve that *' natives" were oppressed by 
his fellow Britons ; a man who had been "got at" by a small hu- 
manitarian party at Cape Town. In defiance of the strongly ex- 
pressed views of the chief colonists, including the Wesleyan mis- 
sionaries of Albany district and Kaffirland, Lord Glenelg reversed 
the Governor's decision, brought the frontier back to the Fish River, 
and recalled Sir Benjamin D'Urban. The Dutch farmers — the 
Boers — soon made up their minds to another " trekking " on a large 
scale, from a country subject to imbecile mismanagement ; the Bri- 
tish colonists were indignant and amazed ; the Kaffirs placed the 
change of frontier to the account of weakness or fear. Again in 
possession of their strongholds in the Amatola Hills, they recom- 
menced their raids on a smaller scale, and the colonists in the North- 
east had to exist for ten years in a state of petty warfare with their 
Kaffir neighbors. 

Advance in Education. 

Sir George Napier was the next Governor, and in his time, with 
his wise and liberal assistance, a great educational advance was 
made. The state of elementary instruction was so backward that, 
in 1839, when the new system began to work, there were only 500 
European children in the free Government schools throughout the 
colony. The suggestions and efforts of Sir John Herschel were of 
great service. That eminent astronomer resided at the Cape from 
January, 1834, to May, 1838, engaged in a series of most valuable 
telescopic surveys of the heavens, conducted entirely at his own ex- 
pense. He drew up an excellent scheme of national instruction and 
public schools, and on his return to England he devoted much time 
to the selection and dispatch of suitable teachers. Each district had 
its school commission, including the resident minister of religion and 
justices of the peace, with pecuniary aid to well-managed schools and 
to the mission schools for colored children. The good work had its 
effect shown in the census of 1875, proving that 62 per cent, of 
Europeans, and 16 per cent, of the mixed races, were able to read 
and write. In commercial matters we note that in 1846 the colony 
was annually exporting three and a quarter million pounds weight of 



tHE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 12 1 

wool. The public debt was paid off by 1847 ' municipal government 
was introduced into the towns and larger villages, and good wagon 
roads were made through mountain passes. At the same time an 
excellent class of immigrants, on an aided system, was introduced in 
from four to five thousand English, Scottish and Irish agriculturists, 
men who soon became thriving farmers, and partly supplied the loss 
due to the " trekking" of the Boers to the North. 

The *'War of the Axe." 

The " War of the Axe," long planned by the Kaffir chief Sandili, 
was caused by the rescue of a Kaffir who, having stolen an axe at 
Fort Beaufort in 1846, was on his way to Grahamtown for trial. 
Sandili refused to surrender the criminal, and war ensued. The 
contest opened with a disaster, in a difficult jungly district, to a 
British column of 1500 men, including some companies of the 91st 
Foot, the 7th Dragoons and the Cape Mounted Rifles. A great host 
of Kaffirs made a sudden attack, and a forced retreat was attended 
with considerable loss in men and horses, and the capture of above 
fifty wagons laden with tents, baggage, ammunition and food. The 
Kosa warriors then poured across the frontier, making their way 
close to Grahamtown, with the burning of houses, the slaughter of 
sacred persons and the capture of cattle. The towns and villages of 
the eastern districts were crowded with helpless, ruined fugitives. 
Another wagon train of food and ammunition was taken, with the 
driving off of its military guard. The enemy were repulsed in their 
attacks on all the fortified posts, and the Dragoons, with some 
mounted Hottentots, slew some hundreds of Kaffirs whom they 
caught on open ground, with the loss of one soldier killed and three 
wounded. This affair somewhat impressed the native mind, but the 
position was very serious, and a strenuous effort was needed. 

The whole Burgher force of the colony was called out, and every 
soldier that could be spared from Cape Town was hurried to the 
front. Wagons and oxen were in all quarters impressed for service, 
but great difficulty arose with the transport of food and ammunition, 
from lack of proper organization, and for some time no effective in- 
vasion of Kaffir territory could be made. Several fresh regiments, 



122 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

in due course, arrived from England. A better method of transport 
was devised, and then the enemy's stronghold in the Amatola 
Mountains was attacked by columns advancing from the south, the 
east and the west. The converging action of these forces was too 
much for the Kaffirs, and by the close of 1847 the two chieftains, 
Sandili and Macomo, hid come into the British lines and surrendered. 
Sir George Napier had been succeeded as Governor by Sir Peregrine 
Maitland, and he by Sir Henry Pottinger, the first ruler at the Cape 
who bore the title of " High Commissioner," and was armed with 
power to deal with affairs beyond the colonial border, in territory 
which would now be styled a "sphere of influence." The war was vir- 
tually closed when yet another new Governor arrived in Sir Harry 
Smith, in honor of whose victory over the Sikhs, won in January, 1846, 
the town and district of Aliwal North in Cape Colony was named. 

Sir Harry Smith. 

Sir Harry Smith, the able and energetic soldier who landed at 
Cape Town on December ist, 1847, ^^^ the right man in the right 
place. Rough and ready in speech and action, kind-hearted, 
arbitrary, prompt, fearless of consequences, he was a man fit to rule 
men, and no mere official. He was most warmly welcomed by the 
colonists, who remembered his good work in the days of Sir 
Benjamin D'Urban, as an old and tried friend. He soon showed, 
in a way strikingly original for a British Governor at the Cape, by 
an act which would have horrified a man like Lord Glenelg and have 
caused his immediate recall, the right method of treating beaten 
chiefs whose followers had been murdering and plundering British 
subjects. The Governor made Macomo, on his surrender, kneel 
down, and then he placed his foot, booted and spurred, on his bended 
neck. Turning to Sandili he said, 'T am the chief of Kaffirland, the 
representative of the Queen of England. From her you hold all 
your lands, and my word shall be your law, or else I will sweep you 
from the face of the earth." A new era for the colony had opened 
when the ruler, in dealing with Kaffir potentates, did not waste time 
in making "treaties" sure to be broken, but asserted, with almost 
brutal frankness, the overwhelming power of his country. 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 1 23 

The colonial authorities in London had by this time begun to 
believe that people at the Cape, governors and governed, might 
possibly hold sounder views than those of Downing Street. Lord 
John Russell, now in power as Premier, had shown, in his dealings 
with Canada at the beginning of the reign, a good judgment in 
colonial affairs. A reversion was now made to the policy of Sir 
Benjamin D'Urban, a policy which the last three governors — 
Pottinger, Maitland and Napier — had been brought to approve. The 
boundary of Cape Colony was extended to the Keiskamma River. 
The territory between the Keiskamma and the Kei Rivers was made 
''British Kaffraria," vested in the Queen as sovereign, but held from 
her by the Kosa Kaffirs for their sole use, under the control of a 
commissioner, with the chiefs as rulers of their people in many 
matters, but with the suppression of vicious customs, including the 
cruel punishments for alleged ''witchcraft." Forts, garrisoned by 
British troops, were erected at different points. King Williamstown, 
on the Buffalo River, about 40 miles from the sea, was the military 
headquarters, and the flourishing seaport. East London, at the river 
mouth, was made a part of Cape Colony for purposes of trade and 
revenue. 

Missionaries and Convicts. 

In 1848 the Anglican Church in South Africa received due 
recognition by the appointment of Dr. Gray as Bishop of Cape 
Town, the See being endowed by the munificence of Miss (afterwards 
Baroness) Burdett-Coutts. The new prelate, attended by a large 
staff of clergy, gave a great impulse to educational and missionary 
work in the growing colony. The attempt made by the Home 
Government to introduce British convicts, in spite of the strong 
opposition of Sir Harry Smith, was frustrated by the determined 
opposition of the people at Cape Town, and the ship NepHme, after 
detention for five months in Simon's Bay, with 300 convicts on 
board, who were not permitted to land, received orders from London 
to convey her unsavory cargo to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania), 

In May, 1850, a great step forward was made in the establish- 
ment of representative rule by letters patent from the Crown, 



124 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

empowering the Governor and Legislative Council to cause the elec- 
tion of two Chambers. There were already elected Municipal 
Councils and Road Boards, to the great advantage of the colonists. 
The application of the elective principle to the general government 
of the country was delayed for three years by a new Kaffir war, but 
we may here anticipate matters by stating that in 1853 the new form 
of government began to exist, with an elective Legislative Council 
and House of Assembly, chosen on a franchise granted to occupants 
of any building or land valued at ^25, or in receipt of an annual 
salary of £2^ with board and lodging, or ^50 without, and that on 
July I St, 1854, the first parliament of the colony assembled at Cape 
Town, the whole population then being about 265,000, of whom 
24,000 dwelt in the capital. The public revenue exceeded ^300,- 
000 ; the exports closely approached a million sterling in value. 

Witch Doctors Cause Trouble. 

The Kaffir chiefs and people, in spite of the humble submission 
made by Macomo and Sandili, had only regarded the peace of 1847 
as a truce. The latter chieftain was formally deposed from his 
position in October, 1850, when he was found to be stirring up his 
tribe, the Gaikas, to disaffection. In the same year there was much 
suffering in Kaffraria from drought; a native prophet or "witch- 
doctor" aroused the people's fanaticism, and the chiefs, in general, 
chafed at the loss of their former power. It is worth noting that 
the interference of the British rulers with the men who went about 
"smelling out" witches and wizards was resented by the Kaffirs as 
a device of the Government for handing them over to those sup- 
posed powers of evil. A renewal of conflict was encouraged by a 
great magician, as he was held to be, who issued charms which would, 
as he declared, turn into water the bullets fired at the wearers. Sir 
Harry Smith, on the rumor of an intended outbreak, took all the 
force he could muster to King Williamstown, and sent a body of 
troops to arrest Sandili in his lurking-place among the forests at the 
head-waters of the Keiskamma River. 

This was in December, 1850, and the Kosas, having treacherous 
information of the movement from Kaffir police in the Government 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 1 25 

service, attacked the detachment, 700 strong, of British infantry and 
Cape Mounted Rifles in a defile called the Boomah Pass. Some 
dozens of the force fell in fighting their way through, amidst a mus- 
ketry fire from an ambush of thickets and rocks. The signal fires of 
the foe flashed the news through the land, and this affair was followed 
by the slaughter of a patrol of fifteen men, and by the burning of 
three villages on the colonial side of the border, with the murder of 
forty-six men in cold blood. The whole of the frontier, and the 
country far beyond, was then stirred up against British power. The 
Gaikas were all in arms, helped by Kreli, the Galeka chieftain 
beyond the Kei ; north of the Amatola Mountains some of the 
Tembus joined in the rising ; Hottentot settlers on the Kei River, 
ungrateful for kindly treatment during the past twenty years, 
revolted ; the Fingos alone remained faithful. 

British Disasters. 

The colonists, as a body, made no hearty response to the appeal 
for their active aid, and the government was left to its own resources. 
On all hands British troops had to retreat before overwhelming 
numbers and Sir Harry Smith himself, beleaguered at Fort Cox, 
had a narrow escape as he cut his way through a host of foes at the 
head of about 200 faithful Mounted Rifles. There were less than 
2000 British soldiers in the whole colony, and half of these were 
shut up in fortified posts. Amidst these difficulties the foe were 
gradually impressed by the stubborn valor and endurance of men 
who repelled all attacks on the little forts, and marched hither and 
thither, by day and night, exposed to a burning sun or to heavy 
rains. There was much devastation of farms, and some loss of life 
for the settlers, until the arrival of strong reinforcements from home 
enabled the Governor, at the close of 1851, to take the offensive. 
Several of the enemy's strongholds were stormed, part of the 
Kaffir country was wasted with the destruction of kraals and crops, 
and in January, 1852, two British columns came back to King Wil- 
liamstown with 60,000 head of cattle and many horses and goats, 
and escorting some thousands of Fingos rescued from slavery in 
Kaffirland. 



126 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

The Birkenhead. 

It was early in the following month that the dispatch of rein- 
forcements for the overweighted British troops brought one of the 
noblest and most affecting occurrences of modern history. The 
steam troop-ship Birkenhead, of the Royal Marine, conveying drafts 
of various regiments to Algoa Bay, including men of the 74th High- 
landers, all under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander 
Seton, struck on a sunken rock near Point Danger, midway between 
the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas. It was two o'clock 
in the morning. The vessel, steaming at about nine knots an 
hour through a fairly smooth sea, had the plates of her iron hull 
widely rent aft of the foremast, and the water drowned many men 
in their hammocks on the lower deck, while the rest rushed up and 
mustered in silence, at the word of command, beneath the light of 
the stars. They were mostly young recruits, but without a murmur 
or a cry they stood in their ranks on the rocking and loosening upper 
deck, facing death as coolly as if they were on parade for drill. 
About 100 men were working hard at the pumps, others were 
gathered astern to ease the forepart of the ship. The only two ser- 
viceable boats took the women, the children and the sick, on board, 
in water that was swarming with sharks. Their appetite was partly 
sated by horses driven out of the port gangway on the chance of 
their getting ashore by swimming. The whole bow end of the ship 
broke off at the foremast, and the funnel fell over, crushing about 
sixty men, and carrying away the starboard paddle-box and boat. 
As many more died by drowning at the pumps, and the end came 
in the breaking of the ship in two, crosswise, when the stern part 
filled and went down. About 70 men reached the land clinging to 
rigging or drifting furniture, and about 50 more were taken off the 
wreck in the afternoon by a small craft which had picked up and 
saved the people in the boats. Nearly 500 lives, including that of 
Colonel Seton, were lost out of about 700. Some noble lines of 
Sir Francis Doyle, some words of praise from the Duke of Welling- 
ton, a man sparing of eulogy, delivered at the Royal Academy din- 
ner in 1852, and a mural tablet and brass plates at Chelsea Hospital, 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 12? 

containing the names of the officers and men, 357 in all, who perished, 
commemorate this grand display of discipline and self-sacrifice. 

Progrress of the War. 

In the spring of 1852 Sir Harry Smith, whose health had been 
seriously impaired by incessant toil and care, laid down his governor- 
ship, and was succeeded by Sir George Cathcart, a Waterloo 
veteran, destined soon to fall in the glorious battle of Inkermann. 
This able commander, having at his disposal eight regiments of the 
line, a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, the 60th Rifles, the 12th 
Lancers, with artillerymen, engineer, and a large force of auxiliaries, 
was able to do his work thoroughly. From every point of vantage 
the Kaffirs were routed out. Every fastness of the foe was turned 
into a British stronghold, with a turret surrounded by stone walls 
that could shelter a large force, the posts being held by a small body 
of men with stores of ammunition and food. The enemy was 
harassed beyond measure by a system of constant patroling, and 
a permanent force of mounted European police was formed. 

'In March, 1853, the principal Kaffir chiefs made their submission, 
and the forfeited lands of Kaffir and Hottentot rebels were handed 
over to Fingos and Europeans. The Amatola Mountains, always 
the real seat of war, were made a " Crown Reserve " in permanent 
military occupation, and the eastern frontier was at last made secure 
by the settlement on the land of Dutch and English farmers, men 
accustomed to the use of arms, and holding their farms on condition 
of maintaining an organization of self-defence. The making of new 
roads, and the annexation to Cape Colony of the country north of 
the Amatolo Mountains, completed the arrangements against future 
trouble. Conquest of the Kaffirs was followed to a large extent by 
their initiation in the arts of peace, to their own great benefit. The 
warriors of the Amatolas began to work for the Government in the 
making of roads, rendering their country defenceless by laying bare 
its fastnesses in lines of communication equally serviceable in peace 
and in war. The assegai was exchanged for the spade, and the peo- 
ple settled on open fertile lands, ploughed with their own oxen, 
instead of stealing those of their neighbors. 



128 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

Sir George Grey. 

The recall of Sir George Cathcart to command a division of the 
troops in the Crimean War left the way open for a new Governor 
in the person of one of the greatest colonial rulers in British history, 
Sir George Grey, K. C. B., a man to be distinguished from another 
able administrator, the Sir George Grey, Bart., who was Home 
Secretary in ministries of Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston. 
The eminent colonial ruler, who died but recently at an advanced 
age, was descended from a branch of the Greys of Groby in Leices- 
tershire, the ancient and noble house whose most famous scion was 
Lady Jane Grey. Born in 1812 at Lisburn, in Ireland, he was a 
posthumous son of Lieutenant-Colonel Grey, killed at the fearful 
storming at Badajoz. Trained for the army at Sandhurst, and 
leaving the service as Captain in 1839, he had already won great 
credit as an Australian explorer, and in 1841 he became Governor 
of South Australia. From 1846 to 1853 he was Governor of New 
Zealand, and there showed consummate ability, tact, firmness and 
power of conciliation. 

On his appointment to the Cape in 1854 he displayed the same 
qualities. His sense of justice was shown in obtaining redress for 
certain disbanded Hottentot troops, whose promised pensions were 
being in great part unjustly withheld by the War Office in London. 
The money to satisfy their claims was at the Governor's instance 
voted by the Cape Parliament. At the **Grey Hospital," erected 
at King Williamstown by the labor of troops disbanded on the close 
of the war, the sons of Kaffir chiefs were instructed in simple medi- 
cal science for the treatment of the more common forms of disease 
of their countrymen, and when they returned among their people 
their new knowledge made them scorn the impostures of the "witch- 
doctors," and native superstition was thus, as Grey intended, by 
degrees undermined. In a great work of pacification and civiliza- 
tion, in which he made use of the agencies of the magistrate, the 
missionary, the schoolmaster and the trader, the Governor caused 
the Queen, whom he represented, to become, for the first time, a 
living reality for the natives of South Africa. In every beneficent 








\\\ -.,1 



.T*5. 



mm^^: 



■4 





Native Police, Natal, 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR, 1 29 

work he put his sovereign forward as the great ''White Queen be- 
yond the Seas," from whose love and goodness the benefit came. 
There was statesmanship of the highest order, as well as loyal de- 
votion to a Queen and an Empire, in thus arousing reverence and 
affection for a person to replace a vague notion of distant, intangi- 
ble authority. His effort in this direction had complete success. 
The Fingos, in a petition to the Crown, said : ' 'We are a blessed 
people under Queen Victoria ; we are like children who have a 
father in all things to preserve, feed, and help them." It was to the 
Queen that, forty years later, Lobengula, of Matabeleland, sent his 
envoys. It was to see the Queen that King Khama of Bamangwato, 
the strongest of the Bechuana rulers, and his brother chiefs, 
journeyed to London. 

The Kosa Kaffirs. f 

The powers of Governor Grey were put to the test by a new 
Kaffir difficulty involving one of the strangest events in modern 
history. In 1857 the Kosa Kaffirs became the victims of a delusion 
which had its rise in the assertions of a madman or impostor named 
Umhlakaza. He professed to have had interviews, on the banks of 
a little lonely stream, with the embodied spirits of some long-dead 
chiefs, including his own brother. They were about to appear, he 
heard, again on earth, in the midst of the tribes, armed with power 
to drive the foreigners, Dutch and English, into the sea. A cattle 
plague had, in 1855 ^"^ 1856, killed many thousands of horned 
animals in Cape Colony and Kaffraria. The warriors returning 
from the other world would bring with them herds of cattle proof 
against disease. 

In order to the fulfilment of these marvelous promises, the 
fanatical prophet declared that all the animals fit for food — horned 
cattle, pigs, sheep and fowls — all stores of corn and the standing 
crops, must be destroyed. Then would the beauteous and plague- 
proof cattle issue from the earth, with fine fields of millet ripe for 
food. Sorrow and sickness would be no more, nor old age nor de- 
crepitude be known again. It was, however, imperative that the 
people should first place themselves in a state of absolute destitu- 

9 



130 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

tion. Those who disobeyed the commands of the spirits would 
perish along with the Fingos and the whites. This wonderful tale 
was first accepted by Kreli and the Galekas outside British terri- 
tory, and then through their influence it spread into British Kaffraria. 
Sandili and the Gaikas would not at first believe, but large numbers 
of the Kosas made away with all their means of subsistence, and 
awaited the fulfilment of the prophecies. 

A Disastrous Movement. 

It Is uncertain to what extent, If any, Kafiir chiefs instigated 
this disastrous movement, in the hope of uniting the people in a 
desperate assault on British power. It was in vain that missionaries 
and agents of the Government, during some months, combated the 
frenzy. British traders were enriched by the possession of the hides 
of about 200,000 slaughtered cattle, obtained In barter for articles 
of trifling value. Sir George Grey, at personal Interviews with some 
of the chiefs, found himself powerless against the prophet's words. 
The people, fully persuaded that utter poverty must precede the 
coming supernatural wealth, were starving at the very time when 
they tolled In preparing a huge kraal for the expected cattle, and In 
making thousands of skin bags to hold the store of miraculous milk. 
Sandlll himself had at last given w^ay to the urgent wishes of his 
brother, Macomo, and the Governor returned to take military 
measures against a possible invasion of people maddened by famine. 

The appointed day of great things, Wednesday, February i8th, 
1857, came and went and the miserable Kafiirs, who had sat vainly 
watching all the previous night to see the promised sign on two 
blood-red suns rising over the eastern hills, beheld the usual one orb 
appear to bathe the hills and valleys in a flood of light. The horrors 
that ensued were past description. About 40,000 Kaffirs, it is sup- 
posed, perished of famine. The nearest kinsmen fought to death for 
fragments of the milk bags. The country was covered with skeletons, 
singly or in groups, and between January ist, 1857, and July 31st, of 
the same year, the population of British Kaffraria was reduced from 
105,000 to about 38,000. Many thousands of the people had crossed 
the frontier In search of the means of subsistence, being fed by the 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. I3I 

Government or by the charity of colonists ; some thousand in the 
end working as servants on fixed wages for fixed terms of years. 
The vacant tracts of land in British Kaffraria were to some extent 
occupied at a trifling rent by farmers chosen from Cape Colony, on 
condition of military service, and some good thus arose out of 
enormous evil in the presence of a strong body of European settlers 
near to an exposed frontier. In 1858-9, a welcome reinforcement of 
hardy settlers was received from North Germany, About 2000 in 
all, including the wives and children, were located on ground sold at 
twenty shillings an acre, chiefly in the valley of the BufTalo River. 
These new colonists — frugal, temperate, diligent, pious — soon arrived 
at prosperity as cattle owners and market gardeners. 

Sending Aid to India. 

Sir George Grey's strength of character was admirably shown 
on the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. In August, 1857, a steamer 
brought to the Cape a dispatch reporting that event. The Governor, 
seeing the extreme danger in the East, at once sent off to Calcutta 
every British soldier at Cape Town and every horse that could be 
spared, with two batteries of Royal Artillery and most of his sup- 
plies of ammunition. Within three days of his reception of the 
terrible news a man-of-war and three transports had sailed from 
the Cape with this valuable reinforcement. A few days later some 
ships arrived bearing regiments for service in China. Without the 
least right the Governor diverted these troops, on his own responsi- 
bility, to Calcutta, where they landed the men who enabled Sir Colin 
Campbell to relieve Havelock at Lucknow. His daring action re- 
ceived the special approbation of the Colonial Secretary and the 
Queen. In his zeal for the interests of the Empire Sir George went 
afoot for some time, having sent his own horses to India as cavalry 
re-mounts. 

In this condition of affairs at the Cape, when the colony 
was almost devoid of regular troops, the Governor turned his 
thoughts to possible danger from Kreli and his Galekas, and in 
February, 1858, he sent a force against them, chiefly composed of 
the Mounted Police, and of Burgher and native militia, and drove 



132 THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

them from the district called the Transkei — the land beyond the 
Kei river — into the territory beyond the Bashee. For some years 
the Transkei remained a kind of neutral ground, devoid of people 
except in the north-east, where some loyal Kaffirs dwelt in the 
"Idutywa Reserve." 

South African Federation. 

It is needless to state that a Governor Hke Sir George Grey 
was regarded at Downing Street as a "dangerous man." In 1859 
he brought forward in the Cape Parliament the question of South 
African Federation. In response to a request for his opinion on 
this subject, addressed to him in September, 1858, by the Colonial 
Secretary, Sir Edward Bulwer (the first Lord) Lytton, Sir George 
had freely pointed out the mistakes of past policy, and urged the 
establishment of a federal union, in which the separate colonies and 
states — Cape Colony, British Kaffraria, Natal and Orange Free 
State, and the other Boer Republic — each with its own local govern- 
ment and legislature, should be combined under a general repre- 
sentative legislature, with a responsible ministry. His official 
"superiors" in England were irritated by his presumption in sub- 
mitting a positive scheme, when he was only asked for information 
and for his "views" on the subject, and when Grey went further, 
and, without special instructions, broached the matter in the Cape 
Legislature, he was visited with a sentence of " recall." 

The Queen, a thorough "Imperialist" in her views, as she has 
often shown with great advantage to the Empire, expressed her in- 
dignation to the Prime Minister (Lord Derby) at the Cabinet's 
decision. As a constitutional sovereign, she was unable to disallow 
the action of her ministers, but the "recall" of Grey did not take 
effect. At this juncture in June, 1859, the Derby Cabinet, defeated 
in the Commons, made room for a Ministry headed by Lord 
Palmerston. The new Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Newcastle, 
at the urgent instance of the Queen, cancelled the "recall," chang- 
ing it into " absence on leave," and Sir George Grey, after a brief 
visit to England, received a warm welcome at the Cape on his return 
as Governor early in i860. 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 1 33 

Progress at the Cape. 

During his brief remaining tenure of power, before his trans- 
fer to New Zealand for a second term of office, in 1861, Sir George 
Grey received Prince Alfred (afterwards Duke of Edinburgh and of 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) then a midshipman on board H. M. S. 
Euryahis, and conducted him on a "progress" through Cape 
Colony, Kaffraria, the Orange Free State and Natal. By this time 
the railway from Cape Town to Wellington, fifty miles north-east, 
was well advanced. In September the Prince laid the first stone on 
the great breakwater in Table Bay, and inaugurated the splendid 
new Library and Museum, an institution already furnished with 
nearly 40,000 volumes, and enriched by Sir George in 1864 by the 
presentation of all his literary treasures, one of the finest of private 
collections, including publications and MSS. on languages and eth- 
nology of Africa and Polynesia, large numbers of early black-letter 
printed books, the only complete copy of the First Folio of Shakes- 
peare then existing out of Europe, and many other literary gems, 
whereby the South African Library became third in point of size, 
and first in value and importance, among all colonial collections of 
its class. In 1861 Grey sailed for New Zealand, leaving Cape 
Colony, after nearly eight years of his rule, nobly and durably 
marked by his action. The British Ministers, however, would have 
none of his "Federation"; the opportunity was lost, and federation 
is still wanting to the South African dominions of the Crown. 

The Discovery of Diamonds. 

The Governorship of Sir Philip Wodehouse, from 1861 to 1870, 
was marked by the incorporation of British Kaffraria, and by the 
great discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West. The former 
event took place in 1865, with the formation of two electoral divis- 
ions — King Williamstown and East London. At the same time the 
growth of population caused an increase in the number of constitu- 
encies represented in the Legislative Assembly, and the enlarge- 
ment of the Legislative Council. In 1867 a child on a farm in the 
north of the colony was found possessed of a "brilliant pebble," 



134 '^HE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 

which proved to be a diamond of 2 1 carats, worth ^500. Another 
gem was picked up on the bank of the Vaal River. Several were 
found in 1868, and in March, 1869, a Dutch farmer bought, for ^400, 
the famous stone called "The Star of South Africa" from a Hot- 
tentot, who valued it only as a charm. It weighed S^ carats uncut, 
and was soon re-sold for ^i 1,000. A rush for the Vaal banks was 
made by adventurous people, and the alluvial "drift" was washed 
with good results. In 1870 a large find of diamonds was made in 
"dry diggings" about 20 miles south of the Vaal, and there were 
soon 10,000 miners at work. The town of Kimberley became a 
great and flourishing place, and a new era for South Africa began 
with the advent of the digger, the capitalist and the company pro- 
moter, and the extension of the border beyond the Orange River. 
In 1 87 1, under Sir Henry Barkly, as Governor and Hfgh Commis- 
sioner, Griqualand West was annexed, after a strong protest made 
by the government of the Orange Free State, whose claims were 
finally compromised in 1876 by payment of the sum of ^90,000. 
The tide of public opinion in South Africa had by this time clearly 
set in favor of northward progress, and the general advance of the 
colony is shown by the official figures of 1875. ^^^ that year the 
population was returned at 721,000, of whom 237,000 were whites. 
Cape Town contained 32,000 people with 12,000 in the suburbs; 
Port Graham had 13,000 residents, and Grahamstown, 7000. The 
revenue exceeded ^1,600,000, and the exports had a value of more 
than four millions sterling, including v/ool worth above two and three- 
quarter millions, angora hair and ostrich feathers. The changed 
conditions were recognized in 1872 by the establishment of "respon- 
sible government," the members of the "Executive Council " or 
Ministry henceforth having seats in one of the Houses of the 
Legislature. 

End of Kaffir Troubles. 

Before leaving this part of our subject we may note the con- 
clusion of warfare with the Kaffirs south of the Oranore River. In 
1865 the Galekas were permitted to return into a part of the 
Transkei, nearest the sea, a district known for some years as Gale- 



THE GREAT KAFFIR WAR. 1 35 

kaland ; and on the inner border a colony of many thousand Fingos 
was planted as a protection for Cape Colony proper. Warfare be- 
tween the Galekas and the Fingos arose, and Kreli, in 1877, bestirred 
himself to a final effort for the independence of his Kosas, whose 
hereditary head chieftain he had formerly been. In October a new 
High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, to be seen hereafter in this 
record, decreed his deposition and annexed his territory, and there 
was fighting for some months between the Galekas and the colonial 
levies aided by some British troops. There could be only one end 
to the struggle, though Sandili roused the Gaikas to action in a last 
despairing rally for the Kosa clan. By June, 1878, Sandili had been 
shot, Kreli had fled to distant wilds, and the Kosa Kaffirs, once so 
formidable to Dutch and British settlers, vanished from the page of 
history. 



CHAPTER VIIl 



Dingaan and the Dutch—" Dingaan's Day "—Fall of Dingaan— British 
Jealousies— Natal Seized by the British. 



NATAL was first seen by Europeans when, on Christmas Day, 
1497, Vasco da Gama sighted the land to which he gave its 
abiding name from "Dies Natahs," the style of the anniversary 
in the Latin calendar. Nearly two centuries passed away be- 
fore any record of the territory being visited by people from the 
British Isles. In 1683, a ship carrying 80 persons, passengers and 
crew, was wrecked near Delagoa Bay, the survivors journeying over- 
land to the Dutch settlements at the Cape. The first attempt at 
European settlement was made in 1824, when two ex-officers of the 
royal navy, named King and Farewell, with other adventurers, sought 
and obtained a grant of land, on the coast and for 100 miles inland, 
from the Zulu King, Chaka, then in possession. One of the party, 
named Fynn, afterwards had another grant to the south. The 
country had been devastated by Zulu warfare, but natives of various 
beaten tribes gradually came together round the whites, who were 
recognized as rulers under Chaka as paramount chief. 

Dingaan and the Dutch. 

That truculent king's assassination in 1828, and the succession 
of Dingaan, brought trouble to the Europeans. Farewell was killed, 
and the other whites had to flee for their lives, but they ventured to 
return, and for some years Fynn was head of the Natal Kaffirs, un- 
der Dingaan, who drew off his people from the coast territory. In 
1835 some American missionaries arrived, and these, along with a 
few Boers who had migrated from Cape Colony in the previous year, 
formed the nucleus of a colony, styling their territory ''Victoria," in 
1837, and laying out a town called Durban, from the popular Gov- 
ernor at the Cape. 

(136) 



FOUNDATION OF NATAL. 137 

The great Boer migration gave a solid basis, after many 
troubles, to the colony of Natal. We have seen that Pieter Retief, 
in 1837, crossed the Draakensberg Mountains, bounding the terri- 
tory like a great wall on the west, in order to view the pleasant land 
stretching down in terraces, with many streams, a rich soil, stately 
forests, and grassy valleys, to the sub-tropical shores of the Indian 
Ocean. The Boer leader was well pleased by what he saw, and 
having been warmly welcomed by the settlers at Durban, and civilly 
received by Dingaan at his capital of concentric circles of huts, 
used as barracks for his warriors, he received a grant of the whole 
country on condition of recovering for the king a herd of some 
hundreds of cattle recently stolen from a Zulu outpost. Retief re- 
crossed the mountains to fetch his party from Winburg, recovered 
the cattle without bloodshed, and then set out with a caravan of 
nearly a thousand wagons for Natal. He went forward himself with 
sixty-five Europeans and a score or two of Hottentot servants, 
driving the cattle to Dingaan' s capital, and there the bloodthirsty, 
treacherous king had them all brained with clubs as they partook of 
some refreshment of millet beer. 

'' Dingaan's Day." 

This and the other disasters recorded were followed by jeal- 
ousies among the Boer leaders, causing Potgieter and his party to 
separate from the rest and found the little town of Potchefstroom. 
The others held their ground, suffering from disease and scarcity of 
food, but repelling in a fortified camp (laager) all attacks of Dingaan's 
warriors. A change came with the arrival of a very able Boer com- 
mandant, Andries Pretorius, who received the chief command, and 
soon started for Dingaan's capital on a mission of vengeance, at 
the head of over 450 men. The force took wagons enough to form 
a laager, and surprise was avoided by the formation of these, lashed 
together in a circle, at every place of halt for the night. Scouts on 
every side during the march gave safety to the column against am- 
buscades, and the bank of Dutch "Ironsides," men of prayer and 
singers of psalms, vowed a church and an annual day of thanks- 
giving if victory over the foe were granted. A church at Pieter- 



138 FOUNDATION OF NATAL. 

marltzburg and " Dingaan's Day " remain in proof at once of their 
success and of their fidelity to their word. 

On Sunday, December i6th, 1838, Dingaan, with over 10,000 
warriors, attacked the camp in early morning. All was ready for 
his reception, the deadly fire of the Boers' muskets being aided by 
some small cannon. The Zulu warriors, after a series of vain 
charges, in a battle continued for over two hours, retreated, leaving 
on the ground over 3000 dead, by a stream ever since styled the 
Blood River. When the defeated king's capital was reached it was 
found in flames, and he had fled into wilds where horsemen could 
not act. The victors returned to Natal with some thousands of 
cattle. The whole loss of the whites in this memorable campaign 
was six men killed and three wounded. The strength of the Zulus 
may be gathered from the fact that Dingaan, after the loss of nearly 
10,000 warriors, could return to rebuild his capital. 

Fall of Dingraan. 

The Boers, on their side, kept together and laid out the town of 
Pietermaritzburg, tilling the ground close at hand as gardens, and 
keeping the cattle within fences. In September, 1839, Panda, a 
young brother of Dingaan, rose against him, with help from the 
Boers, and a determined struggle ended in that cruel potentate's 
utter defeat, an event soon followed by his assassination. Panda 
became king of the Zulus, and the aid of Pretorius, at the head of 
400 mounted Boers, was rewarded by the gift of about 40,000 cattle. 
Thus was founded a republic of Natal, with the Zulu ruler as a vassal 
to the Volksraad or Parliament. The valor of the Boers had thus, 
between 1836 and* 1840, broken for the time the strength of the 
Zulus, and placed the ''trekkers" in the independent possession of 
a great territory beyond the borders of Cape Colony, north of the 
Orange River, and, in Natal, east of the Draakensberg Mountains. 
They had now to reckon with opponents in another quarter. 

British Jealousies. 

The British Government at the Cape had regarded the emigra- 
tion of the Boers with disfavor and dismay. A large number of 



FOUNDATION OF NATAL. 1 39 

their subjects had seceded to found an independent state or states 
in the neighborhood of the colony, and there carry out a policy 
towards the natives of South Africa widely diverse from that recog- 
nized and permitted within the colony. It was felt that they must 
not be allowed, at any rate, to be masters on the seaboard, and 
coercive measures were adopted. , 

In July, 1838, Sir George Napier, D'Urban's successor in rule, 
sent a small force to Durban, and these men, advancing to attack 
Pretorius, were caught in an ambuscade and roughly handled, with 
the loss of two field guns. The camp at Durban was then besieged 
by the Boers, but all attacks were repulsed, and the arrival of rein- 
forcements, including a frigate, compelled the men under Pretorius 
to disperse. 

Natal Seized by the British. 

Thus, in July, 1842, Natal came into British possession. Most 
of the Boers moved away across the Draakensberg Mountains, and 
the territory was largely occupied by Bantus, who had fled from 
Zululand. Panda became again an independent sovereign, and 
some territory in the south of Natal was given to a Pondo chief. 
After a period of anarchy, due to the collapse of the Boer rule, 
the territory, with the Buffalo and Tugela rivers as its northern 
boundary, was annexed as a new British colony in May, 1843, 
attached to Cape Colony in the following year, and finally made a 
separate colonial state in November, 1856, with a Legislative 
Council of sixteen members, four of whom were appointed by the 
Crown, and twelve elected as representatives of towns and districts. 

Slow and steady progress was made in the arrival of British 
colonists from the mother country, and in 1852 the population 
exceeded 120,000, of whom nearly 8,000 were of European descent, 
and the rest Kaffirs. Between one-third and one-half of the whites 
were Boers, the remainder being chiefly immigrants from the British 
Isles or from the Cape, with a small porportion of Germans. The 
export of wool was growing large, and in 1852 sugar-canes were 
planted in the sub-tropical coastlands, a culture which introduced a 
considerable number of East Indian coolies. For the large Kaffir 



I40 FOUNDATION OF NATAL. 

population reserves of land were made, amounting in all to about 
one and a quarter million acres, where the people dwelt under their 
own tribunal system and native law. 

In 1853 Dr. Colenso, a man justly famous for his chivalrous and 
truly Christian support of native claims, became the first Bishop of 
Natal. This work has no concern with theological questions or dis- 
putes, and we pass on to note the establishment, in 1854, of munici- 
pal corporations at Durban and Pietermaritzburg. There was a 
small rebellion, or rather disturbance, in 1873, when Langalibalele^ 
a chief of great influence at the head of a Kaffir clan on one of the 
reserves, failed to come to Pietermaritzburg on a summons to answer 
for a breach of law committed by some of his young men, who had 
brought guns — forbidden articles except under strict- registration — 
into the colony after a period of work in the diamond fields. He 
fled into Basutoland on pursuit, and his followers slew two or three 
of the pursuing force. The chief was arrested among the Basutos, 
tried at Pietermaritzburg by a special court, and sentenced to life 
exile on Robben Island, near Cape Town. His clan was, with some 
loss of life, broken up, and the denunciations uttered by Bishop 
Colenso and the Aborigines Protection Society aroused so much 
sympathy in London that Governor, Sir Benjamin Pine, was recalled, 
compensation was made to the Kaffir clan, and Langalibalele was 
removed from his prison to a farm on the mainland, where he lived 
in comfort, surrounded by his wives, as a "prisoner of State." After 
twelve years of exile he was allowed to return to Natal, where he 
soon afterwards died. The result of this petty trouble was that in 
1875, 3.fter a visit of inquiry by Sir Garnet Wolseley as special com- 
missioner, the power of the Kaffir chiefs was limited, and the people 
on the reserves made subject to ordinary criminal law, with a native 
high court for civil cases. Since that time the Kaffirs of Natal have 
lived in peace with their white fellow-subjects, and have made decided 
progress in civilization. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Progress of the Republic— Prosperity— Rise of the Transvaal—Pre- 

torius and Kruger — British Annexation — Opposition of the 

Boers- The War for Independence. 



THE Orange Free State had its rise in the "great trek" from 
Cape Colony in 1836 and subsequent years. In February, 
1848, Sir Harry Smith issued a proclamation which declared 
the whole of the territory bounded on the south-west by 
the Orange River, on the north by the Vaal, on the east by the 
Draakensberg Mountains, to be British territory as the ''Orange 
River Sovereignty." The Boer leader, Pretorious, induced his fol- 
lowers to resist by force of arms, but they were severely defeated in 
August by the Governor at the battle of Boomplatz, south-west of 
Bloemfontein, and the Boers fled beyond the Vaal, their places being 
taken by British or by other settlers from Cape Colony well disposed 
to British sway. 

By degrees the desire for self-rule among both British and 
Dutch settlers weakened the authority of the Cape Government, and 
the Home Government resolved on abandoning the territory. In 
February, 1854, the "Orange Free State" arose, under arrange- 
ments made by a special commissioner despatched from England — 
Sir George Clerk, formerly Governor of Bombay. The measure 
was greatly opposed to public feeling in Cape Colony, and to that of 
many inhabitants of the territory, including some of the Dutch 
people, but the "Convention of Bloemfontein" was signed in the 
face of all protests, and a fine territory, nearly as large as England, 
was renounced within six years of its annexation. The country Is 
governed by a President, legislative authority being vested in a 
popular Assembly, the Volksraad, elected for four years by suffrage 
of the adult white males or " Burghers." The President, chosen for 

(141) 



142 FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 

five years by universal suffrage, is aided by an Executive Council 
of five members. 

Progrress of the Republic. 

In its origin the country had to contend with great difificulties in 
the small numbers of its population, the neighborhood of the power- 
ful Basuto State, under Moshesh, and the lack of such appliances of 
civilization as churches, schools, roads and bridges. In 1858, war 
with Moshesh, in which the Basuto ruler displayed his usual strategi- 
cal skill, ended in the acceptance by the Free State, as we have seen, 
of terms obtained by the mediation of Sir George Grey, Governor 
of Cape Colony. A large slice of territory was thus surrendered in 
1859 to the Basutos. 

The succeeding years were times of general progress from 
sheep-farming and cattle-rearing, and of peace disturbed only on the 
border by Basuto raids. Under the excellent President, Jan Hendrik 
Brand, who was elected in 1865, the intervention of Sir Philip 
Wodehouse, Governor of Cape Colony, after the successful warfare 
of the Burghers against the Basutos in 1867 and 1868, restored the 
former boundary line assigned by Sir Harry Smith. Much loss of 
life and heavy expenses had been incurred, but energetic and per- 
severing effort soon restored affairs to a prosperous condition. In 
1 87 1, the people of the Free State, still ruled by President Brand, 
felt aggrieved by the British annexation of Griqualand West, part 
of which, containing most of the diamond mines, lay within their 
boundary. The matter was settled, as we have seen, cheaply enough 
for the British Government, by a payment of ^90,000, wisely applied 
by Brand to a reduction of the public debt. 

Prosperity. 

Since that time, down to the present war, the Orange Free 
State enjoyed a career of unbroken peace and progress in the 
development of public communications and instruction, the growth 
of population, and the possession of a sound financial system which 
resulted in the virtual absence of public debt. President Brand's 
rule was so acceptable to his fellow-burghers that he was repeatedly 



FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 1 43 

re-elected, and died in office in 1888. On an area exceeding 48,000 
square miles, there are about 80,000 whites and 130,000 natives. 
The land is chiefly devoted to grazing, and the wealth of the people 
lies mainly in flocks and herds, comprising about 7,000,000 sheep, 
280,000 oxen, and 870,000 goats, with about 250,000 horses and 
630,000 cattle used as beasts of burden. The mineral wealth of the 
territory includes rich coal mines, and diamonds exported to an 
annual value approaching half a million sterling. 

Rise of the Transvaal. 

The South African Republic, or Transvaal, dates its political 
existence from 1852. The Boer leader, Pretorius, after the battle 
of Boomplatz, was living, a proscribed man with a reward of ^'2000 
offered for his arrest, to the north of the Vaal. The danger to 
British authority arising from simultaneous wars with the Basutos 
and the Kaffirs, and from a threatened alliance between the Boers 
and Moshesh, induced Sir Harry Smith to reverse the sentence of 
outlawry, and, in the famous *'Sand River Convention," signed in 
January, 1852, to recognize the independence of the Boers beyond 
the Vaal river. This arrangement was confirmed by Sir Harry's 
successor. Sir George Cathcart, by the British Secretary for the 
Colonies, and by the Boer Volksraad. The new state violated from 
the first the important clause in the convention that '*no slavery is 
or shall be permitted or practised in the country to the north of the 
Vaal river by the emigrant farmers." 

The South African Republic started on its political career with 
a population of 15,000 or 16,000 " Boers," or farmers possessed of 
the best land in a country well adapted for most kinds of tillage and 
for pastoral life. Little capacity for self-rule was shown. There 
were at first four executive heads — one for each of the leading fac- 
tions — and for a time there were four separate republics, a system 
resulting in virtual anarchy which drew to the territory all the ras- 
caldom of South Africa, and gave the Transvaal a bad name for 
cruel and oppressive treatment of the natives. The Boers them- 
selves made war upon disaffected Bantu clans, and many atrocities 
were committed on each side. In i860 the separate republics 



144 FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 

became united, and then the factions engaged in a small civil war 
for supreme authority in the one Transvaal State. 

Pretorius and Krugrer. 

In 1864 peace was restored under the presidency of M. W. 
Pretorius, with Paul Kruger as commandant or military chief in the 
Government. There was no properly organized system of rule, 
and the most marked characteristic of the republic was Boer facility 
in making enemies. From 1865 to 1868 there was unsuccessful 
war with a mountain tribe in the north. The state treasury was 
destitute of funds, and peace with the natives had to be patched up 
on somewhat ignominious terms. The piety of the Boer community 
was strongly manifested in the building of churches, and the pres- 
ence of large numbers of ministers of religion, whose flocks were 
ever at variance on trifles of doctrine or practice, but in social 
and political affairs the conspicuous matters were dense ignorance 
of books and of all affairs outside a narrow local circle ; the lack of 
bridges over rivers, and the want of money in the treasury for the 
erection of public offices and the payment of the paltry salaries 
of officials. 

The material wealth of the country grew in flocks and herds, 
and in the produce of the fertile soil, and rude abundance reigned 
on the Boer farms. Under President Burgers, in 1876, war arose 
with a powerful chief named Sekukuni, and an attack made by a 
Boer "commando," led by the President in person, was repulsed 
with loss. The orthodox attributed the defeat to the leadership 
of the agnostic ruler, a man who had been formerly a minister, and 
had afterwards shown great ability in conducting cases in the Cape 
Colony law courts. As chief official of the Transvaal he was a de- 
cided failure, and, in presence of a successful native chieftain, the 
state found itself penniless and without an army. 

British Annexation. 

This condition of affairs caused a momentous change. The 
British Secretary for the Colonies, Lord Carnarvon, an enlightened 
man, eager for South African confederation, recognizing the danger 



FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 1 45 

to general European interests in South Africa arising from the help- 
less condition of the Transvaal State, despatched a special com- 
missioner to make inquiries. This British agent was Sir Theophilus 
Shepstone, a man of unequalled experience and knowledge of South 
Africa, then Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal. He was em- 
powered, if he thought fit after due inquiry, to annex to the British 
dominions all or any part of the Transvaal territories, and to take 
over the government, ''provided he was satisfied that a sufficient 
number of the inhabitants desired to become British subjects." In 
January, 1877, he entered Pretoria amidst a scene of enthusiastic 
welcome from the towns-people. Due inquiry was made into the 
condition of affairs, and the wishes of the people concerning 
annexation. 

The British Commissioner was soon convinced that British rule 
could alone save the State from utter ruin. The English and Ger- 
man residents in the villages or little towns were eager to come 
under British sovereignty. President Burgers, summoning the 
Volksraad, presented them with the alternatives of a thorough 
reform of the system of rule, or British sway under a confederation. 
The members gave assent to a reform. The President, faced by 
public bankruptcy, the entire suspension of trade, factions among 
the Boers in prospect of a new presidential election, and Cetewayo's 
bands of warriors gathered on the frontier, really favored annexation. 

Opposition of the Boers. 

In accordance with his view, Sir Theophilus Shepstone,' in April, 
1877, proclaimed the Transvaal to be British territory, and assumed 
the government. Burgers made a formal protest, and closed his 
political career by retirement to Cape Town on a pension. The 
"Executive Council" declared the annexation to be an "act of vio- 
lence," and at once despatched the Vice-President, Paul Kruger, and 
the Attorney-General, to London to plead for its reversal. All their 
efforts were vain. Lord Carnarvon remained firm ; but there was 
one matter in which Sir Theophilus Shepstone, his instrument, and 
himself, were thoroughly deceived. No account had been taken of 
the feeling of the Boers in the country districts, the backbone of the 



146 FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 

country, the men who furnished soldiers for the ''commandos" in 
time of war, the hardy class whose skill in the use of the rifle was, 
along with incompetent leadership of British soldiers and a reversal 
of policy at Downing Street, to restore independence to the South 
African Republics. 

A second deputation to England, consisting of Paul Kruger 
and Pieter Joubert, was backed by memorials against annexation 
signed by over 6,500 persons, practically the whole rural population, 
but a new Secretary for the Colonies, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 
plainly refused the withdrawal of British sovereignty, while he 
promised a form of self-government for the Transvaal as "an integral 
and separate state" in a South African confederation. There was 
an unfortunate delay in drawing up a new form of government for 
the territory, and in April, 1879, when Sir Theophilus Shepstone had 
been succeeded as Administrator by Colonel (Sir Owen) Lanyon, 
no step in that direction had been taken. The High Commissioner, 
Sir Bartle Frere, had at that time an interview with the Boers near 
Pretoria, and bade them "never believe that the English people 
would give up the Transvaal." 

His successor. Sir Garnet Wolseley, declared that "so long as 
the sun shone the Transvaal would remain English territory." In 
October, 1879, however, he was reporting to the Colonial Office 
that "the main body of the Dutch population are disaffected to our 
rule," and at the end of the year, when a new Transvaal govern- 
ment had been constituted as that of a "Crown Colony," with a 
nominated Executive Council and Legislative Assembly, the Boers, 
gathered in mass meeting, declared that they would not be subjects 
of the Queen. 

The War for Independence. 

The Boers were specially encouraged in resistance to the 
British sovereignty by three events. These were, firstly, the British 
success over the Zulus, removing all need of British help against the 
lately formidable neighbor ; secondly, the British defeat of Seku- 
kuni, whose rough handling of the Boer levies had brought about 
the downfall of the republic ; and thirdly, the accession of Mr. Glad- 



FOUNDATION OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 1 47 

Stone to power in Great Britain. That statesman, during his "Mid- 
lothian campaigns," had denounced the annexation of the Transvaal 
in the strongest terms, and it was made clear that his views con- 
cerning the Boers of the Transvaal were backed by a large body of 
his British admirers. The Boer leaders had also, during their visit 
to England, learned something of British party methods, and became 
aware that the victors at a general election were capable of revers- 
ing the policy of their predecessors. They fully expected that the 
government of Mr. Gladstone would at once make their country 
independent, and when it was found that the new Premier main- 
tained the British sway they resolved to fight for their freedom. 

Paul Kruger, Pretorius and Joubert became the heads of a 
provisional government, and in December, 1880, a proclamation of 
independence was issued. All the Boers were united in a cause 
which they firmly believed to be supported by Heaven, and they 
took the field in considerable force. The leading man in the govern- 
ing tnumvirate, Paul Kruger, called ** Oom (Uncle) Paul " by the 
admiring Boers, was one of the original emigrants from Cape 
Colony, a man distinguished in the Boer warfare with native tribes, 
and a member of one of the strictest bodies of Dutch Protestants. 
Pieter Joubert, a younger man than Kruger, also a fighter in Kaffir 
wars, was a self-educated man of the Covenanter type. Pretorius 
was an able administrator, who had been, as we have seen, Presi- 
dent of both the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. One of 
the chief promoters and organizers of insurrection was Dr. Jor- 
rissen, a Dutch divine, learned and fierce in spirit and temper. 



CHAPTER X, 



The Zulu War— Moving Against the Zulus— The Zulus Defeated— In- 
vasion of Zululand— End of the War— Boer Seizure of Zulu- 
land— Increase of Cape Colony— Basutoland— The Basuto 
War— The Basutos and the Orange Free State- 
Annexation of Basutoland— Bechuanaland. 



THE history of Cape Colony and of Natal has been traced down 
to 1878. In that year serious trouble arose with the Zulu 
Kaffirs, already seen in this record. Panda, the younger 
brother of Dino-aan, had succeeded to his rule, as we have 
seen, and he became independent of Natal in 1843, with the Buffalo 
and Tugela Rivers as the settled northern boundary of the British 
colony. He was a man devoid of mental or physical energy after 
his accession to power — a peaceful potentate who maintained a firm 
alliance with his white neighbors. The discipline of the army was 
much relaxed, but the military system established by Chaka was 
retained. The young warriors, mindful of the nation's warlike past, 
wanted a worthy leader, and they found him in their king's eldest 
son, Cetewayo. A civil war in which about one-fourth of the Zulu 
males, with many women and children, perished, took place between 
parties headed by Cetewayo and his younger brother, Umbulazi. In 
1856 the former triumphed in a great battle on the Tugela, where 
Umbulazi and a large number of his supporters fell. Thenceforth 
Cetewayo was co-king with his father, and virtual ruler of Zululand, 
succeeding to full kingship on Panda's death in 1872. Of fine per- 
son, dignified demeanor, great mental ability, high courage, and 
ruthless cruelty towards opponents, the Zulu sovereign ruled with a 
rod of iron, restoring the old military discipline, and making his peo- 
ple truly formidable as the most energetic and fearless natives of 
South Africa. 

(148) 



THE ZULU WAR. 1 49 

The arrival of Sir Bartle Frere, formerly Governor of Bombay, 
as Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner, was the sig- 
nal for war. Cetewayo was in an irritated state because the Natal 
Government had interfered, in the interests of peace, between him- 
self and the Transvaal Boers, who had annexed some territory 
claimed by the Zulus. The annexation of the Transvaal by Great 
Britain in 1877 — a momentous transaction which opened a new era 
in South Africa — destroyed the balance of power in that region, 
bringing British authority face to face with the Zulus. The High 
Commissioner, with his Indian views as to native potentates in 
presence of British power, was unable to endure the standing- 
menace of Cetewayo's army in existence close to the Natal fron- 
tier, and promptly summoned him to disband his forces and change 
his stern system of rule, with the demand of an answer within 
thirty days. 

The reply of the Zulu King to this audacious ultimatum was 
contemptuous silence, and on January loth, 1879, British forces, 
under Lord Chelmsford, crossed the frontier in three divisions, com- 
posed of British soldiers, colonists, well drilled, brave Basutos, and 
some other native allies of little value. The chief events which fol- 
lowed are well known. On January 226. the centre column, under 
Lord Chelmsford, was encamped about ten miles east of the ford on 
the Buffalo (Tugela) River, called Rorke's Drift, at a point on the 
march for Cetewayo's ''kraal," or capital, Ulundi. To the north of 
the camp was a solitary hill called Insandhlwana (Isandula). During 
the absence of half the troops, with the General, the men at camp 
were suddenly assailed by a great force of Zulus, and slain almost 
to the last man, overwhelmed by fierce rushes, like those of the 
Arab warriors in the Soudan, made by men armed with a heavy, 
broad-bladed spear for close fighting, several lighter javelins or 
assegais for hurling, a hard-wood club, and a large oval shield. In 
this disastrous action there fell 26 officers and about 600 non-com- 
missioned officers and men of the 24th Regiment, and 24 officers 
and as many rank and file of the Natal Volunteers and the Natal 
Native Horse (Basutos). Two guns, all the wagons and oxen, 1200 



150 THE ZULU WAR. 

rifles, and a great quantity of ammunition and other stores were 
carried off by the foe. 

Natal was saved from immediate invasion by the historic 
defence, one of the finest miUtary achievements of the minor class 
of modern days, maintained on the evening of that dreadful day at 
Rorke's Drift, by Lieutenants Bromhead of the 24th Regiment and 
Chard of the Royal Engineers. These heroes, in command of men 
like unto themselves, about 100 effectives, chiefly of the 24th, 
defended some weak buildings, with some parapets composed of 
bags of mealies (Indian corn) and biscuit boxes, for twelve hours, 
including the night of January 2 2d, against the determined attacks 
of 4000 Zulus, who left nearly 400 bodies on the ground when they 
retired at the approach of Lord Chelmsford's column. Large num- 
bers of blood-stained shields showed that many more slain or 
wounded Kaffirs had been carried off The defenders of the post 
had 17 men killed and 10 wounded. Surgeon Reynolds and the 
Rev. George Smith, acting-chaplain to the forces, showed conspicu- 
ous gallantry, and the name of Rorke's Drift became immortal in 
the records of the British Army. 

Moving Ag-ainst the Zulus. 

At the end of January the situation of the British forces, as 
regarded the enemy, was that Colonel Pearson, having defeated the 
Zulus who tried to stay his advance, had a firm hold of the south of 
their country in a strongly-fortified position at Etshowe, with about 
1 100 European troops and a good supply of food and ammunition ; 
that Colonel Evelyn Wood, to the north, had formed a strongly 
entrenched camp at Kambula Hill, and that Rorke's Drift, now well 
fortified, was held by the remains of the third column. The frontier 
of Natal was thus secured, and it remained to strike an effective 
blow at Zulu power. 

Strong reinforcements arrived from England and other parts of 
the Empire, while Wood was making daring raids on Zululand, aided 
by Colonel Redvers Buller at the head of the colonial horsemen. On 
the other hand, a convoy was surprised by the watchful and active 
savages, with the loss of a captain and 62 men of the 80th Regiment. 



THE ZULU WAR. I5I 

On March 27th Lord Chelmsford took the field again with a strong 
column, comprising the 57th and 91st Regiments, eleven companies 
of the 60th and 99th, two of the Buffs, a naval brigade, about 3Cmd 
mounted infantry and natives, and a few field guns, rocket tubes and 
Catlings. In all he had about 5,650 men, three-fifths of whom were 
white troops. After the severe lesson of Insandhlwana, no precau- 
tion was neglected, the force being kept well together by day, march- 
ing over open ground towards Etshowe, and covered by reconnoiter- 
ing parties of mounted men. At night the men slept within a wagon 
laager with a shelter trench, one company of each regiment keeping 
ready for immediate action. 

The Zulus Defeated. 

At daybreak on April 2d, when the troops were encamped 
near a little stream called the Ginginhlovo, the Zulus came on in 
dense columns. They were met at 1,000 yards by the fire of Gat- 
lings, but still surged forward in all the strange splendor of their 
leopard-skin cloaks, feathered crests, necklets and knee knots of 
white ox tails, and colored shields, singing a war song, and keeping 
time thereto in rhythmic dance. At 300 yards from the trenches 
round the laager, a hail of fire from the breechloaders burst upon 
their terrible array, but the rush continued, and some warriors 
arrived within a score of yards from the northern angle of the camp. 
One desperate charge after another was made at different points, 
the great induna, Dabulamanzi, showing heroic courage as a leader ; 
but all melted away before the continuous stream of bullets, and a 
charge of cavalry drove the enemy away in rout with very heavy 
loss. The victors lost two officers and nine non-commissioned 
officers and men killed, and six officers and forty-six non-commis- 
sioned officers and men were wounded. 

Invasion of Zululand. 

Colonel Pearson's garrison was then withdrawn from Etshowe 
to the frontier, and a regular invasion of Zuzuland was planned. 
Colonel Wood had, meanwhile, despatched a body of mounted 
troops and native infantry, under Colonels Russell and Redvers 



152 THE ZULU WAR. 

Duller, to attack the Zulus on Inhloblane Mountain, a flattish emi- 
nence about three miles long, at fifteen miles distance east of Kam- 
bula. The force, about 1,400 men in all, ascended the mountain at 
two different points, overcoming the enemy and seizing many cattle, 
but the men were then compelled to retreat by the advance of 
many thousands of Zulus from the north. Severe loss was Incurred 
before the troops regained the laager at Kambula. On March 29th, 
that position, defended by under 2,000 men of all arms, was 
attacked in great force, but every charge was repulsed with heavy 
loss, and Redvers Buller's pursuit of seven miles forced the lesson 
home, with a loss to the British and native allies of eight officers 
and seventy-five men killed and wounded, mostly stricken with 
bullets from the rifles captured by the Zulus from the Twenty-fourth 
Regiment on the fatal day of Insandhlwana. 

By the middle of April, reinforcements to the number of about 
400 officers, 10,000 men and 2,000 horses, had reached Natal, and 
a large force took the field in a march upon Ulundi. On June ist, 
the Prince Imperial of France, serving as a volunteer with the artil- 
lery, was killed, In command of a reconnoltering party, by Zulus in 
ambush. On June 27th, Cetewayo, whose army had by this time 
lost many thousands of men, applied for terms, but the negotiations 
came to naught, and on July 4th, the invaders, over 4,000 Europeans 
and about 1,000 natives, with twelve guns and two Catlings, were 
near the Zulu capital. Under cover of the cavalry, the men marched 
in a hollow rectangle, and halted at about a mile and a half from the 
town on the approach of the enemy in force. The horsemen fell 
back and entered the rectangle, and the Zulu warriors advanced, 
firing, in a great converging circle. The bullets were ill-aimed, 
from lack of practice with the rifles. At a distance, the British 
artillery fired shells with great effect ; at closer quarters, the breech- 
loaders and Catlings shattered the foe to pieces. The Seventeenth 
Lancers, issuing from the rear-face of the rectangle, then charged 
the Zulus and broke them up, after a loss to the victors of three 
officers and ten men killed, and eighteen officers and sixty men 
wounded. 



THE ZULU WAR. 1 53 

End of the War. 

The battle of Ulundi ended the Zulu war. Sir Garnet Wolse- 
ley had now arrived as commander of the forces, Governor of 
Natal, and special High Commissioner for the territories north and 
east of Natal and the Transvaal, to that extent superseding the 
authority of Sir Bartle Frere, who was recalled in 1880. In August, 
Cetewayo was hunted down, through the treachery or fear of a 
Zulu, in a secluded kraal on the border of a forest, and sent as 
a prisoner to Cape Town. He conducted himself with the utmost 
propriety, and was soon allowed to reside on a small farm near that 
of Langalibalele, the fallen chieftain from Natal. His conquered 
country was divided into thirteen districts, each under a chieftain, 
with a British resident. 

The result was anarchy, and in 1883 Cetewayo was restored to 
a portion of his former authority, with two-thirds of the territory. 
He had visited England prior to his restoration, residing for some 
time in Kensington, impressing all persons favorably by his dig- 
nity of demeanor and good sense, and showing a remarkable but 
in nowise immoderate appreciation of champagne. Part of the re- 
maining third of Zululand was placed under a chief of the royal 
house named Usibepu, a former opponent of Cetewayo, and war- 
fare ensued between the parties of the rivals. The former con- 
queror of British troops had the worst of this struggle, and in 
February, 1884, he died, a broken, worn-out man, a fugitive under 
British protection, at Etshowe. 

Boer Seizure of Zululand. 

Cetewayo's son, Dinizulu, with the aid of some restless Boer 
''trekkers" from the Transvaal, became "King of Zululand," de- 
feating Usibepu, and a Boer state, styled the " New Republic," 
was set up on land which he conceded to the Dutchmen. The 
British Government, in December, 1884, secured the seaboard by 
hoisting the flag at St. Lucia Bay. In 1857, the remaining portion 
of Zululand was annexed to the Empire, and divided into six dis- 
tricts, each under a magistrate, with soldiers and police. The 



154 '^HE ZULU WAR. 

ephemeral ''New Republic," now known as the Vryheid District, 
was incorporated in 1888 with the South African (Transvaal) Re- 
public. Dinizulu, arrested for disturbing British arrangements, was 
sent with two other chiefs, in 1889, to reside at St. Helena. Since 
that time the land has enjoyed peace, with a territory enlarged 
towards the North and North-east. 

Increase of Cape Colony. 

Cape Colony was increased in 1879 by the annexation of the 
Kaffir country known as Fingoland, the Idutywa Reserve (a dis- 
trict in the Transkei country, formerly assigned to friendly Kaffirs) 
and Griqualand East. In 1885 Tembuland and Galekaland were 
added to the territory. Between 1880 and 1889 the post of 
Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South 
Africa was thrice held by Sir Hercules Robinson, G. C. M. G., 
(the late Lord Rosmead), a veteran colonial ruler who had Avell 
served his country as governor in Hong Kong, Ceylon, the West 
Indies, New South Wales and elsewhere. Progress during this 
period was shown in the extension of the railway system to Kim- 
berley, the diamond centre in Griqualand West, and in December, 
1887, the South African Jubilee Exhibition was opened at Grahams- 
town. In 1890, a man of remarkable ability, energy and ambition, 
Cecil J. Rhodes, became Premier of Cape Colony. 

The adjacent colony of Natal has fairly increased in prosperity 
since the days of the Zulu War, partly owing to the gold production 
in the Transvaal promoting the transport trade through the colony, 
and creating a market for her agricultural products. In 1893, Na- 
tal came under responsible government, with a quadrennial Legis- 
lative Assembly elected by voters qualified in a moderate amount' 
of real property, or ^10 annual rent, or an income of ^96 per an- 
num, with three years' residence in the colony. There are about 
50,000 Europeans, 43,000 Indian coolies, and nearly half a million 
Kaffirs. The revenues — one and a half millions — much exceeds 
the expenditure ; the imports are about five and a half millions, 
largely for the transit trade to the interior ; the exports are about 
one and three-quarter millions. 



THE ZULU WAR. 1 55 

Basutoland. 

The little state called Basutoland, nearly the size of Belgium, 
to the north-east of Cape Colony, with a fine climate, well watered, 
and producing on its rugged, broken plateau abundance of grass for 
the vast herds of cattle, had its origin in a treaty concluded by the 
Cape Government in 1843 with a wise, powerful, energetic and able 
chieftain named Moshesh. The son of a petty chief, he became by 
far the most distinguished black ruler in South Africa, through his 
diplomatic and military skill, his power of organization, and his ca- 
pacity for ruling his fellow men. About 1820 he began to form a 
compact political body out of the remnants of various tribes, render- 
ing aid to all in need, treating all on an equal footing, conciliating 
his strong neighbors, the Zulus, in the time of Chaka and Dingaan, 
by an artful show of submission and by payment of tribute, and 
making a capital at Thaba Bosigo, an impregnable mountain strong- 
hold. His admirable tact towards other powers was shown in 1831, 
when a Matabele force vainly besieged Thaba Bosigo, and was at 
last compelled to retreat by want of food. Moshesh, with words of 
friendship, sent a supply of provisions enough to take them home, 
and was forever afterwards unassailed from that quarter. Natives 
in trouble, refugees from all regions, came to settle under his pro- 
tecting care, and the missionaries of all sects were welcomed as those 
who brought with them civilizing arts. The power of the Basuto 
leader was solidified by his formal recognition, in 1843, as ruler not 
only of his own territory, but of a large vacant region north of the 
Orange River, and of the lands of the lower Caledon. This arrange- 
ment was soon the source of trouble. Native chieftains on the 
Caledon repudiated the authority of Moshesh, and in 1848 the im- 
petuous British Governor, Sir Harry Smith, in forming the Orange 
River Sovereignty, deprived the Basuto ruler of a large part of his 
dominions. 

The Basuto War. 

Thenceforth Moshesh began to intrigue against British power, 
with the inevitable result of war. A small force of British troops 
and farmers, with a number of natives, took the field against a chief- 



156 THE ZULU WAR. 

tain dependent on the Basuto sovereign, and under Major Warden, 
British Resident at Bloemfontein, they were defeated on June 30th, 

1 85 1, at Viervoet Hill. The Kaffir war, then in full swing, prevented 
Sir Harry Smith from obtaining due redress for this check. Basuto 
bands then made raids on European colonists and the tribes not 
owning allegiance to Moshesh, and in 1852, after dealing with the 
Kosa Kaffirs, Sir George Cathcart marched for Platberg, on the 
Caledon River, with a powerful force of British troops — about 2000 
infantry, 500 horse and two guns. 

Full submission not being made, the British general advanced 
towards Thaba Bosigo, beyond the river, opposite Platberg, entering 
the country in three divisions. Both Cathcart and his subordinates 
underrated the enemy's power and skill, and on December 20th, 

1852, at the battle of Berea Mountain, virtual defeat was incurred 
by the invaders of Basutoland. One column was led into an am- 
bush, severely handled, and forced to retreat. The body led by the 
General in person was checked by 6000 Basuto horsemen, armed 
with European weapons, and on the following day the British with- 
drew to their camp after losing between 60 and 70 men, including 

' T^"] killed. The prudent victor at once called in the aid of the pen of 
one of his friendly missionaries, and sent in a letter asking for peace. 
Sir George Cathcart embraced the offer and withdrew his forces. 

The Basutos and the Orange Free State. 

The Basuto ruler plunged into a ruthless war with the newly- 
made Orange River Free State, plundering the herds of white farmers, 
and having much the better of the struggle with the armed " Burgh- 
ers " through his skillful strategy. Sir George Grey, in 1858, was ac- 
cepted as mediator, and his decision left the Basutos in possession 
of much more territory than the portion allowed by Sir Harry Smith. 
Under Sir Philip Wodehouse, as Governor of Cape Colony, the 
boundary was again reduced to Sir Harry Smith's line, and the Free 
State was ravaged by Basuto horsemen, with the slaughter of many 
settlers. The Burgher forces gained some victories in the field, and 
took some strongholds, but Thaba Bosigo could not be captured, 
and, after a year's truce, war was renewed. Moshesh was now, in 



THE ZULU WAR. 1 57 

1868, after nearly fifty years of active life, unfit to command, and had 
no substitute. One fastness after another was occupied by the 
enemy, some of his people fell away, the Basutos were reduced to 
straits by the destruction of granaries and the wasting of crops, and 
the tribe, driven up into the mountains, suffered much from disease 
and famine. In this extremity an appeal was made for British inter- 
vention, and the Basutos, at the request of Moshesh, became British 
subjects in March, 1868. 

Annexation of Basutoland. 

Soon afterwards Moshesh died, and in 1871 the territory, limited 
by large concessions to the Orange Free State, was annexed to 
Cape Colony, with a general use of the Bantu law. Peace quickly 
brought a restoration of prosperity, and all was well until 1879, when 
a chieftain named Moirosi rebelled. After some fighting on difficult 
ground, his mountain stronghold was captured at the end of the 
year. More disturbance came from an attempt to introduce Euro- 
pean settlers and the application of an Act for disarming natives. A 
general Basuto revolt occurred, and great expense, with little suc- 
cess, marked the warfare waged by the colonial forces. In 1881 
Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner, intervened, and 
concessions as to disarmament brought a cessation of hostilities, fol- 
lowed by an Act of 1884 transferring Basutoland to Imperial control 
as a Crown colony, with all legislative and executive authority vested 
in the High Commissioner. A "Resident Commissioner" holds 
sway, with his headquarters at the capital, Maseru, and Assistant 
Commissioners, In seven districts, have authority shared with heredi- 
tary chiefs. There are about 250,000 Bantu natives, with a few 
hundred Europeans, all of whom are officials, missionaries or traders. 
The territory is strictly maintained as a native reserve, no European 
settlement being allowed, and the whole country does not contain a 
single recognized canteen or " drinking shop." All the schools— 
except two Government and some industrial, out of nearly 150, with 
over 7,500 pupils — are connected with the missionary societies, the 
chief organization of that class being the excellent Paris Evangelical 
Mission. In 1891 the country entered the Customs Union existing 



1 58 THE ZULU WAR. 

between Cape Colony and Orange Free State ; in the following year 
the telegraph wires were extended to Maseru. Good progress is 
being made in population, and in agricultural and pastoral wealth. 

Bechuanaland. 

British Bechuanaland, formerly a Crown colony, incorporated 
with Cape Colony, in November, 1895, is a territory about the size 
of England, on the central plateau of South Africa, with an average 
elevation of 4,000 feet above sea level. The country is mostly 
pastoral, with extensive woods in the north-east, a dry and very 
healthy climate, and a very fertile soil. This favorite scene of mis- 
sionary labor for Livingstone, Moffat, and many other earnest pio- 
neers of Christianity and civilization, suffered much from the unscru- 
pulous Boers who ''trekked" northwards from Cape Colony. After 
the Boer war of 1881 there was trouble between two chiefs and 
their rivals, the latter being victorious through the interested aid of 
the Boers of the Transvaal. The Boer Government then made a 
"peace and settlement," which included the confiscation of territory 
belonging to one of the defeated chieftains. The Government of 
Cape Colony promptly interfered with this arrangement, and Sir 
Charles Warren, sent out as Special Commissioner in 1884, entered 
the country with 4,000 men of all arms, including 2,000 irregular 
cavalry. He met with no resistance from the Boers or natives, and, 
remaining in the territory until August, 1885, he organized the 
Crown colony as above, and also proclaimed, as the "British Bechu- 
analand Protectorate," the land between the Molopo River on the 
south and the Zambezi on the north, with the Transvaal Republic 
and Matabeleland on the east, and German South-west Africa on the 
west, having a total area of about 2 1 3,000 square miles. A mag- 
nificent province was thus peacefully added to the British Empire, 
with a population estimated at 200,000, including the Bamangwato 
tribe, ruled by the excellent chief named Khama, a real Christian, 
if conduct be the test, as a good ruler, an enemy of alcoholic 
liquors, and a friend of education. In 1896 there was a revolt of 
some of the chiefs, followed by much fighting with colonial forces ; 
in August, 1897, it was ended by surrender of the rebel leaders. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Outbreak of the First Boer War— Outbreak of the War— Disaster for 

the British— Advance of the Boers— Defence of Potchefstroom— 

Fierce Assaults— Colley's Campaign— Sympathy with the 

Boers— The Rival Forces— Laing's Nek— Sngogo- British 

Reinforcements— Majuba Hill— The British Routed 

—End of the War— Compensation for Losses 

—Transvaal Finances. 



THE reputation of the Transvaal Boer as "a first-class fight- 
ing man" dates from the brief campaign of the winter of 
1 88 1. Previously his military virtues had been held cheap, 
especially by officers of the British regular forces. Within 
a few days of the opening of the little war which ended at Majuba 
Hill, Sir Owen Lanyon, the Administrator of the Transvaal, was 
writing in the most contemptuous terms concerning the martial 
qualities of the Boers, and ridiculing the idea of a serious outbreak. 
"They are incapable of any united action," he said, ''and they are 
mortal cowards, so anything they may do will be but a spark in 
the pan." This, as events speedily showed, was an absurd miscal- 
culation ; but it must be admitted that there was no apparent reason 
to think highly of Boer soldiership in 1880. 

In the old days, it is true, the "emigrant farmers" had faced 
the natives with the most determined courage ; but in their more 
recent native wars the Boers had certainly been distinguished rather 
for discretion than valor. In their few previous encounters with 
British troops, the Boers, whether in the Cape Colony, the Free 
State, or Natal, had invariably been worsted ; and disorganized as 
they had become during the Imperial occupation of the country, 
there seemed little ground for anticipating that the movement which 
Mr. Kruger, General Joubert and Mr. Pretorius were heading, could 
ever be formidable from a military point of view. 

C159) 



l6o OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

Outbreak of the War. 

The rebellion, therefore, when It did break out, found the British 
authorities in South Africa completely unprepared. In the Trans- 
vaal there were only about fourteen hundred troops all told, scattered 
in different forts ; the Natal garrison was even weaker, and when 
Sir George Colley collected his available forces to advance to the 
front in January, 1881, he could only get together a scratch contin- 
gent of about thirteen hundred men. Such was the situation when, 
on December 16 — the anniversary of ** Dingaan's Day" — several 
thousands of armed Boers met near Heidelberg, declared their 
independence of Great Britain, and hoisted the Republican flag. 
Hostilities began at Potchefstroom, where a collision took place 
between a strong party of Boer horsemen, who entered the town to 
get the Declaration of Independence printed, and about a hundred 
and forty men of the 21st Regiment who were encamped outside. 
The Boers attacked the court-house, forced the British civil officer 
and his guard to surrender, and were themselves shelled by the 
artillery at the camp. Having thus committed themselves, they 
made no further pretence of pacificatory measures. They sent a 
message to Sir Owen Lanyon, summoning him to surrender, in the 
name of the Provisional Government, and armed commandoes 
began to assemble on the Natal frontier and in the neighborhood of 
the various British garrisons. 

Disaster for the British. 

A few days afterwards Pretoria was roused from its contempt- 
uous indifference, and England awakened from its ignorance of the 
whole matter, by the news of a startling disaster. On December 
20, a portion of the 94th Regiment of British Infantry, two hundred 
and fifty strong, encumbered with a train of unwieldy African ox- 
wagons, was marching from Lydenburg to Pretoria, Suddenly at a 
place called Broncker's Spruit, a Boer patrol appeared with a white 
flag, and informed the Colonel that he could not be permitted to 
advance further. He declined, of course, to obey these orders, and 
on his refusal, bodies of concealed Boer riflemen opened fire on the 
column from both flanks and from the front. There was no time for 










\*^ 








be 
3 

c 
c 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. l6l 

the troops to deploy, and no chance of replying effectually to their 
ambushed opponents ; and In a very few minutes two-thirds of the 
force lay stretched on the ground. Further resistance was useless. 
The Colonel, himself mortally wounded, ordered a surrender, and 
those of the soldiers who had escaped the Boer bullets delivered up 
their arms. Eighty-six of the 94th had been killed, and nearly all 
the rest were wounded, many of them fatally. The Boers contended 
that this massacre was a legitimate military operation, since war had 
actually begun, and they had a right to take advantage of the 
negligence of their adversaries ; but the prevalent view in England 
was that Colonel Anstruther was treacherously entrapped. 

Advance of the Boers. 

The noise of firing at Broncker's Spruit stirred both sides to 
energetic action. The British forces in the Transvaal were, however, 
unable to concentrate so as to assume the offensive. All they could 
do was to entrench their various camps and forts, and hold out till they 
were relieved, or till the suspension of hostilities. This they did 
successfully in every case except at Potchefstroom, where the garri- 
son, which was short of provisions, surrendered on March 21, after 
the terms of peace had actually been agreed upon at the conference 
between Sir Evelyn Wood and the Transvaal Delegates — a fact that 
was concealed from the garrison by the Boer Commandant, Cronje. 
The defence of Potchefstroom, and some of the other fortified posts, 
was, on the whole, creditable ; but at Pretoria, where the Adminis- 
trator, the Headquarters Staff, a strong force of British Infantry, 
with nine-pounder and seven-pounder guns, and the whole popula- 
tion, military and civil, were kept ''cooped up like rats in a barrel" 
for three months, by some six hundred Boers, unprovided with 
artillery or siege appliances of any kind, the spectacle was not 
encouraging to British prestige. 

Serious fighting took place on the northern frontier of Natal, 
from which alone, since the Free State was neutral and there were 
no available troops in the Cape Colony, the Transvaal could be 
invaded. General Joubert assembled some 700 men at Coldstream 
on January 3, 1881, and shortly afterwards occupied Laing's Nek, 



1 62 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

Defence of Potchefstroom. 

The stubborn defence of Potchefstroom is well worth recalling. 
When it was ascertained early in December, 1 880, that the Boers 
were determmed to fight, every precaution was taken at Potchef- 
stroom, and the court-house and the gaol were fortified. On the 
14th the Boers were reported to be in large force some five miles 
off On the 15th about 500 mounted Boers rode into the town and 
took possession of some buildings. Next day several armed Boers 
rode to within 200 yards of the camp. Colonel Winsloe, who was 
in command at the town, ordered a small party of mounted infantry 
under Lieutenant Lindsell to ride up and inquire what they wanted. 
When that officer approached the Boers fired. Lieutenant Lindsell 
then gave the order to his men to charge, which they did most 
effectively, cutting down two of the enemy, and driving the remainder 
back to the town amidst the cheers from the men garrisoning the 
fort and gaol. An attack was then made by the Boers on two sides 
of the fort, but the steady fire of its defenders soon repulsed 
them. That evening the water furrow from which the supply of 
water for the camp was taken was cut ofT. A well was sunk to the 
depth of twenty feet, but no water was found. The weather was 
fearfully hot, and the men suffered terribly when the supply of water 
was limited. On the 1 7th it was determined to take the water-carts 
to a stream half a mile away from camp and fill them. This difficult 
expedition was entrusted to Lieutenant Lindsell, who set out in the 
dark with twenty-five drivers of the Royal Artillery acting as cavalry, 
the mounted infantry, and a company of the 21st. The expedition 
was most successful, and enouo^h water was broucrht in to last 
another two days. In the meantime the working of the well was 
going on, but without result. At length when the last drop of water 
had been finished, several new wells were begun, and on December 
19th the Royal Artillery party struck water at nine feet. 

Fierce Assaults. 

In the meantime the Boers had kept up a hot fire on the fort, 
the gaol, and the court-house. On the morning of the i8th the 
court-house was fiercely assaulted. The garrison was short of 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. T 63 

water, and the roof of the building was fired, so it was deemed advi- 
sable to surrender. This was done on the understanding that the 
lives of the defenders should be saved. To the dismay of the garri- 
sons of the prison and the fort, first a white flag was seen hoisted 
over the Union Jack on the building, and a quarter of an hour later 
the Union Jack was replaced by the flag of the South African Re- 
public. On the 2 1 St the garrison of the prison, falling short of pro- 
visions, evacuated it, and retired without loss to the fort. The Boers, 
encouraged by the capture of the court-house, and strongly rein- 
forced, made a great effort to capture the fort on January i. The 
little garrison was sorely pressed. Two thousand Boers kept up an 
incessant and rapid fire for some time, but made no visible im- 
pression. Nothing of note occurred until the 5th, when the Boers 
occupied the cemetery about 300 yards to the left. Lieutenant Lind- 
sell and a party of volunteers made their way down by moonlight, 
and drove the Boers back to the town. This little expedition was 
afterwards spoken of by the Boers as the most gallant feat during 
the siege. On the 22nd a brilliant charge was made on the trenches. 
Lieutenant Dalrymple Hay led the attack, and was successful In 
gaining possession of a troublesome position and capturing four 
prisoners and some ammunition, water-proof coats and trenching 
tools. Soon after this engagement a truce was called, and an ex- 
change of prisoners took place. But as soon as the truce was over 
firing began again. 

From that time to the end of the siege nothing of much interest 
occurred.. Food ran very short in the fort. By the beginning of 
March rations had fallen to four ounces of meat, one-quarter ounce 
of coffee, and one and one-half pounds of unground mealies. Tea 
and biscuits were all gone. Fever, dysentery and scurvy broke out. 
There was heavy fighting on March 17 and 18. At length on the 
20th Colonel Winsloe decided that it would be better to surrender 
with honorable terms than be forced to surrender unconditionally in 
three days' time — for provisions could only last till then. On the 
2 1 St, therefore, the surrender was made. When Colonel Winsloe 
surrendered, he was entirely ignorant that an armistice of eight 



1 64 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

days had been declared, having been misled by the statements of 
the Boer leaders. Tardy reparation was afterwards made for this 
treachery. The siege had lasted three months and five days, and 
the total British casualties were 83 killed, wounded and prisoners, 
out of 213. 

Colley's Campaign. 

Such was the state of affairs within the Transvaal itself. In the 
meantime Sir George Colley, Governor of Natal, whose authority 
as High Commissioner of South-east Africa extended over the Trans- 
vaal, had not been idle. He made immediate preparations to march 
to the relief of Pretoria ; and although he was able to muster only 
some 1,500 men under his command, he deemed it necessary with 
this, as it afterwards proved, wholly inadequate, force to march to 
the relief of the besieged British garrisons, whose position, owing 
to all communications being cut off, was thought to be even more 
serious than it actually was. Sir G. Colley issued an address to his 
troops, in which, while declaring his intention to put down the rebel- 
lion, he said, "The task now forced upon us by this unprovoked 
action is a painful one, and the general calls on all ranks to assist 
him in his endeavors to mitigate the sufferings it must entail. We 
must be careful to avoid punishing the innocent for the guilty, and 
must remember that, though misled and deluded, the Boers are in 
the main a brave and high-spirited people, and are actuated by feel- 
ings which are entitled to our respect." 

Newcastle, the nearest town to the Transvaal border, was the 
point of concentration for the British troops; and reinforcements 
were anxiously expected both from England and India. The Boers 
in the meantime advanced from Coldstream, across the Natal border, 
to Laing's Nek, and patrolled as far as the Ingogo river, within 
sixteen miles of Newcastle ; later on both these places obtained a 
melancholy notoriety. 

Sympathy with the Boers. 

The state of affairs had excited a deep and widespread sensa- 
tion throughout Europe. In Holland, naturally, the feeling was 
strong in favor of the Boers, who were looked upon as fellow- 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 1 65 

countrymen fighting for their Hberty, of which they had been unjustly 
deprived by England. Both in Germany and in France the Liberal 
portion of the press adopted the same view; and in England an 
influential committee was formed, called the Transvaal Independence 
Committee, for the purpose of urging upon the Government the 
restoration of self-government to the Boers. In Cape Town the 
principal members of the Opposition waited on the Governor, Sir 
George Strahan, with a similar object, more especially representing 
the effect on the colony of a war which must, if carried on, become 
a war of races. The Conservative press, on the other hand, de- 
nounced the attack on the 94th as a massacre. 

In the Free State, bordering as it does on the Transvaal, in- 
habited by people of the same race, of similar pursuits, by men who 
had arrived where they were by a precisely similar process that their 
neighbors became settled in the Transvaal, the interest not unnat- 
urally culminated ; and it was thought far from unlikely that the 
Boers of the Free State would not remain content with mere sympa- 
thy, but would take an active part in the war. Luckily, at this junc- 
ture, there was presiding over the affairs of the Orange Free State 
a statesman of temper and ability eminently fitted to deal with them. 
Mr. John Brand, a gentleman of Dutch descent (a son of Cristofel 
Brand, formerly Speaker of the Cape House of Assembly), from 
the first exerted himself to keep his own people neutral in the 
struggle, and then to bring about a settlement that might be satis- 
factory alike to Boers and British. On December 5 he had tele- 
graphed to Sir George Strahan, suggesting that a Commissioner 
should be sent up to the Transvaal with a view of ascertaining the 
true state of opinion with regard to annexation, and suggesting Sir 
Henry de Villiers, Chief Justice of the Cape Colony, as well fitted 
for such a post. At the moment Sir George Strahan was unable 
to adopt this course, but a correspondence ensued, giving rise to 
communications with the Home Government, leading to the arm- 
istice, and ultimately to the peace. 

At this time the various British garrisons in the Transvaal 
were in a state of siege, and, owing to the stoppage of communica- 



1 66 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

tions, rumors, mostly incorrect, and summonses always vague, were 
the only sources of information as to their position. The Boers 
were also reported to be besieging Wakkerstrom. 

The Rival Forces. 

On January 24, Sir G. Colley, having made a laager at New- 
castle, and provisioned it for thirteen days, and having collected 
1,500 men there, determined to advance into the Transvaal, deem- 
ing it unadvisable to wait for reinforcements, seeing that it would 
take a month to put them into the field, and accordingly at day- 
break marched for the Transvaal with a column officially stated 
at 1000 men. 

This movement was much criticised at the time, one opinion 
being that the Boers would disperse at his approach, and the other 
that they would surprise and outnumber him. 

The actual number of Boers in the field is not known, but 
the best opinion seems to put their whole available fighting 
force at from 6,000 to 8,000 men, of whom there were parties at 
Potchefstroom, Pretoria, Standerton, Wakkerstrom, Lydenberg, and 
other places. They were all mounted, but had no artillery, with the 
exception of one gun, which was at Potchefstroom, and were armed 
with rifles only, having neither swords nor bayonets. On January 
25, the troopship Euphrates arrived at Durban with 1,400 troops on 
board, and on the same day Sir George Colley with his column 
arrived at the Ingogo River without opposition, within four miles 
of the Boer patrols. 

Laing's Nek. 

After crossing the Ingogo River, Sir George Colley's advance 
was stopped by rains, and he encamped four miles from Laing's 
Nek, where the enemy were supposed to be from 2,000 to 3,000 
strong, until January 23, when at 6.30 he moved from camp to at- 
tack the Boers. The attack was repulsed with heavy loss, including 
Colonel Deane of the 58th, and six other officers, and some eighty 
men killed, and one hundred wounded. 

The Boers were here charged, on the authority of an alleged 
eye-witness, with shooting the wounded, and the London streets 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 1 67 

were full of newspaper placards with " Boer Atrocities ; " later on, 
however, General Colley telegraphed that the Boers had ''treated 
the wounded with courage and humanity." Sir William Lanyon 
charged the Boers with stirring up the natives against the English, 
and they made similar charges against him, both equally groundless, 
although it is true that a British official, Sir Morrison Barlow, did 
propose to raise a commando of Swazis against the Boers. His ac- 
tion was strongly disapproved of both by Sir O. Lanyon and the 
higher authorities. 

Ingogro. 

After the repulse on the 28th, General Colley returned to camp 
and remained there unmolested, keeping up his communications 
with, and sending his wounded into, Newcastle until February 7, 
when the post was stopped by a strong Boer patrol, and on the 8th, 
General Colley, with five companies of the 60th, two field and two 
mountain guns, and a detachment of cavalry, moved from camp to 
restore the communications. Leaving two mountain guns and one 
company of rifles on the one side, he crossed the Ingogo River and 
shortly afterwards was attacked ; the attack was repulsed, but with 
heavy loss on the side of the British. About sunset the Boers re- 
tired, and the force was brought back into camp, and a burying 
party, under a flag of truce, was afterward sent to the scene of 
action. Captain Macgregor, R. E., Assistant Military Secretary, 
and five officers were killed, and sixty-two men killed and sixty-four 
wounded. 

British Reinforcements. 

On February 1 7th, Sir Evelyn Wood, who had been sent out as 
second in command, arrived at Newcastle with reinforcements, con- 
sisting of the 2d Battalion 60th Rifles, the 92d Highlanders, two 
squadrons 13th Hussars, and fifty men of the Naval Brigade with 
two guns. The road from Newcastle to General Colley's camp was 
open. In the meantime communications had been going on between 
President Brand, Sir Hercules Robinson (the new Governor of the 
Cape Colony), and the Home Government, and on January 27th 
Sir Hercules had telegraphed the President : " I am directed to 



1 68 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

inform your Honor that if avowed opposition ceased forthwith, her 
Majesty's Government would thereupon endeavor to frame such a 
scheme as they beheve would satisfy all enlightened friends of the 
Transvaal." 

Sir E. Wood returned to Maritzburg on February 2 2d, after a 
consultation with Sir George Colley, and making a reconnoissance, 
and General Colley returned to camp with reinforcements, consisting 
of the 15th Hussars, the 92d, Naval detachment, and two guns, and 
a convoy of 150 wagons. 

Majuba Hill. 

On the night of February 26, General Colley and staff moved 
out of camp to occupy Majuba Hill, overlooking the enemy's position 
at Laing's Nek. He had with him 20 officers and 627 men of the 
58th, 60th, 92d, and Naval Brigade. With great difficulty they 
arrived, after an arduous climb of some eight hours, at the top, too 
much fatigued to entrench themselves. 

The Boers, however, though at first exceedingly alarmed when 
they saw the Highlanders, in the early dawn, looking down upon 
them from the lofty heights of Majuba, were not inclined to give 
up the key to their frontier without a struggle. Under the direction 
of their famous "Fighting General," Nicholas Smidt, they developed 
an ably-conceived and skillfully-executed movement. While the 
larger portion of their force was stationed on the lower slopes of the 
mountain, whence they could maintain a continuous fire upon the 
summit, small bodies of active young men were pushed forward 
towards the higher acclivities. It was like the advance of infantry 
skirmishers covered by artillery. The long-range firing of the Boer 
marksmen did little damage to the defenders, m'ost of whom were 
sheltered behind the rim of the basin, but it had the effect of shelter- 
ing the advance of the climbing party of skirmishers, who, as the 
morning wore on, were gradually making their way up the steep 
flanks of the great hill. Owing to the contours of the ground, a 
large part of the ascent was "dead" to rifle fire from above, so that 
the active young Boer sharpshooters were able to collect in points a 
short distance below the summit without exposing themselves to the 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 169 

bullets of the defenders, whizzing harmlessly above the hollows in 
which they were ensconced. 

This movement had gone on for hours without a suspicion on 
the part of the defenders of its real character and danger. Suddenly, 
a party of Boer riflemen showed themselves on the bare hill-side, 
immediately below one of the kopjes, and fired a point-blank volley 
at the picket guarding it, which fell back in confusion. The appear- 
ance of the enemy's skirmishers on the rim of the sheltering basins 
completely demoralized the defenders. Never was there a better 
exemplification of Napoleon's famous dictum, that in war the moral 
effect is everything. The assailants were a mere handful ; the de- 
fenders, six hundred British troops, still unbroken, might have tum-= 
bled them headlong down the slope if they had ventured a charge 
with the bayonet. But the "psychological moment" was allowed 
to pass by; the officers had lost touch of their men, who were mixed 
up in^ promiscuous throng, on which the Boer bullets were begin- 
ning to tell with deadly effect. There was first confusion, then 
wavering, and then something like a panic, and before many minutes 
the whole force, or as much of it as could move, was in full flight 
down the side of the mountain, losing heavily from the enemy's bul- 
lets as they ran. 

The British Routed. 

The rouj was disastrously complete. Sir George Colley himself 
was killed, with Captain Romilly, who commanded the Naval Brigade; 
seven other officers shared their fate, and fifteen were wounded or 
captured by the Boers. The total loss of all ranks was two hundred 
and thirty, besides fifty-nine unwounded men who surrendered to 
the victorious enemy. This defeat ended the war. A few days after- 
wards Sir Evelyn Wood, who had succeeded to the command, 
received instructions from home to negotiate for peace. 

It will be seen that the short campaign was not conclusive as to 
the real capacity of the Boers to carry on war on a large scale 
against regular troops. That they displayed some fine military 
qualities is evident. Their skill with the rifle was undeniable ; and 
not less admirable was their adroitness in finding cover, and adapt- 



170 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

ing their dispositions to the nature of the ground on which they 
fought. They showed also that they could move swiftly and silently, 
and concentrate and disperse with baffling rapidity. Of the final 
engagement Sir William Butler says: "If in this war the fighting- 
general of the Boers had done nothing except the attack he was 
now^ directing against Majuba, the manner in which he carried out 
that movement would suffice to stamp him as one of the ablest 
leaders of mounted infantry that have appeared in modern war." 

End of the War. 

In consequence of the death of General Colley, the chief com- 
mand and the Governorship of Natal now devolved on Sir Evelyn 
Wood, w^ho, on receipt of the news of the disaster, hurried up from 
Maritzburg to Newxastle, and thence to the camp. On March 6th, 
a conference was held between Sir Evelyn Wood and Joubert, half- 
way between the Boer and British lines, and an armistice was 
agreed upon for eight days, lasting from noon of the 6th to mid- 
night of the 14th, in order to enable the Boer President, Kruger, to 
reply to communications which had been already made to him by 
the late Sir G. Colley ; the difficulty of, and time taken in, communi- 
cating from one part of the country to the other having hitherto 
prevented him from replying. This armistice ended the w^ar. 

With regard to the "ratification of the Convention," it was 
settled that it should take place within three months ; that as soon 
as it was concluded the civil government should be handed over to 
the Boers, but the troops should not be withdrawn until the vote of 
approval by the Volksraad had been obtained ; in default, her 
Majesty w^ould resume her sovereignty over the Transvaal. 

Compensation for Losses. 

The question of "compensation for losses through war" was 
naturally the subject of much discussion, but eventually an agree- 
ment was reached. The Boer leaders argued that "the act of 
taking from individuals and using anything required for a combatant 
force was an act justified by the necessites of war, and the loser had 
no title to indemnification. Such a disposal of private property 



OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. I7I 

was, according to their contention, only the system of requisitioning 
known to all civilized warfare, and was specially legalized by the 
laws and customs of the Transvaal under the name of commandeer- 
ing. They had taken and used in that way the property of the 
people who had been on their side without making any return for 
it, and it was not fair, they argued, that they should have to make a 
return to those who had been against them." 

This position was in accordance with the general custom of the 
Transvaal as to commandeering, and the Cape Colony had so far 
followed the practice as to pass Acts of Indemnity after the Garka 
and Galeka war, and in the Transvaal itself, under British govern- 
ment, a similar Act was passed with regard to the war with Seco- 
coeni by its final and short-lived Legislature. The Commissioners, 
however, were of opinion that taking property without paying for it 
was not an Act *' justified by the necessities of war," although Sir 
Henry de Villiers thought that, nevertheless, her Majesty's Govern- 
ment was precluded by the terms of the peace agreement from 
demanding compensation for such acts. 

Indirect claims, however, resulting from possible depreciation 
of the value of property, the Commissioners refused to recognize. 

Transvaal Finances. 

The "financial" question was the last, though not least, dealt 
with by the Commissioners. The liabilities of the Republic at the 
time of annexation amounted to ^301,727, and of this under British 
administration over ^150,000 was paid off, but fresh liabilities had 
been contracted, and on December 31, 1881, the total liabilities were 
;^390,404; this included a Parliamentary grant of ^100,000. These 
liabilities had increased by August 8, when the administration was 
handed over, to ^457,393. In addition to this there was to be taken 
into account the cost of the two expeditions against Secocoeni, the 
latter being estimated at over ;/^383, 000; compensation to those who 
had suffered loss of property through the war, put at ;^200,ooo ; 
and indemnification to displaced officials, altogether making nearly 
^600,000, which, added to the former liabilities, would bring the 
total debt to over / 1,000,000. 



172 OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST BOER WAR. 

The Commissioners recommended diat the Transvaal should 
not be charged with the costs of the unsuccessful expedition against 
Secocoeni in 1878, and also (Sir E. Wood dissenting) that the costs 
of the successful expedition of 1879 should be remitted ; and both 
these propositions were approved of by Lord Kimberley. 

Eventually the debt of the new State was brought out as due 
to creditors in the following order: ist Charge — Cape Commer- 
cial Bank, ^48,000; Railway debenture holders, ^85,667; Orphan 
Chamber Fund, ^27,226. 2d Charge — British Government, £'2.6^- 
000. Total — ^428,893. This included gratuities to displaced offi- 
cials, but not compensation for war losses. It was proposed that a 
sum of not more than ^500,000 should be advanced by her Majesty's 
Government to the new State at 3^/^ per cent., and also a payment 
of £2 los. 9d. per ^^loo for a sinking fund to extinguish the debt in 
twenty-five years. 

The Triumvirs lost no time in calling together the Volksraad 
with the object of getting the Convention duly ratified. 

The Convention, ratified by the Raad on October 25, was super- 
seded by the London Convention of i 



CHAPTER XII 



The Conventions Between Great Britain and tlie Boers— Suzerainty 

—Mr. Gladstone on Blood-Guiltiness— The Convention of 1884 

— The Transvaal Constitution — The State Church — The 

President — The Army — The Judges — The Second 

Volksraad — Purport of the Constitution —The 

Orange Constitution, 



THE details of the granting of self-government to the Boers, 
after Majuba Hill, were entrusted to a Commission of which 
the British representatives were Sir Hercules Robinson, Sir 
Henry de Villiers, and Colonel Evelyn Wood. Upon the 
report of the Commission was founded the Convention of Pretoria, 
1 88 1. Her Majesty's Commissioners did "undertake and guar- 
antee," to use the words of the preamble, "complete self-govern- 
ment subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty, her heirs and suc- 
cessors, will be accorded to the inhabitants of the Transvaal terri- 
tory upon the following terms and conditions, and subject to the 
following reservations and limitations." 

Suzerainty. 

Lord Kimberley, in his instructions to Sir Hercules Robinson, 
defining the meaning of suzerainty, wrote : "Entire freedom of 
action will be accorded to the Transvaal Government, so far as is 
not inconsistent with the rights reserved to the suzerain Power. 
The term suzerainty has been chosen as most conveniently describ- 
ing superiority over a State possessing independent rights of gov- 
ernment subject to reservations, with reference to certain specified 
matters." Selborne, then Lord Chancellor, in answering Lord 
Cairns's objection that suzerainty did not quite mean sovereignty, 
remarked: "The control of foreign and frontier relations essentially 
distinguishes a paramount Power." By the Convention of Pretoria 

(173) 



I 74 THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 

England controlled the foreign relations of the Boers, the frontier 
relations of the Boers, and the native relations of the Boers. But 
the Convention was no sooner sio^ned than the Boer leaders tried 
to whittle it away. Their one aim was to destroy the suzerainty. 
On the 24th of May, 1881, Mr. Kruger and Joubert, as representa- 
tives of the people of the Transvaal, sent their most hearty con- 
gratulations to her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria on this 
the anniversary of her Majesty's birthday. The address runs as 
follows : — 

"A short time ago we had occasion publicly to state that our 
respect for her Majesty and for the British nation had never been 
greater than now that we are enabled by the Peace Agreement to 
produce proof of England's noble and magnanimous love of right 
and justice." 

It closed with the following pious expression : 

'' We respectfully request that your Excellencies may be pleased 
to convey to her Majesty our deepest respect and the assurance that 
our prayers are that Almighty God may shower His blessings upon 
her Majesty, and that He may spare her Majesty for many years for 
the welfare and prosperity of Great Britain and of the whole of South 
Africa, and more especially of the Transvaal, who hails and respects 
her Majesty as her future Suzerain." 

When the Convention was signed Mr. Kruger and the Trium- 
virate showed their respects by holding a banquet at Pretoria, at 
which the British representatives were present, and her Majesty's 
health was drunk with ironical cheers last of all the political toasts. 

Mr. Gladstone on Blood-Guiltiness. 

There were not wanting politicians, both in England and in 
Africa, who gave reasons which were held to justify the surrender 
to the Boers. To the 700,000 native inhabitants of the Transvaal, 
to the thousands of Dutch Afrikanders who had stood loyally by the 
British Government, to the large number of Englishmen who had 
made the Transvaal their home on the strength of the numberless 
assurances that the country would never be given back, as well as 
to the English in Cape Colony and Natal, there seemed no possible 



THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. I 75 

justification for the action of the Gladstone Cabinet, What then 
were the general arguments urged in favor of their policy? Mr. 
Gladstone himself declared that *'it was a question of saving the 
country from sheer blood-guiltiness "—a statement which, if true, re- 
flected most of all on the right honorable gentleman himself, for if 
he believed the Boers were in the right, why did he inform Mr. 
Kruger (June 8, 1880), that the ''Queen's sovereignty must be 
maintained," and why did he permit General Colley's operations ? 
More sensible apologists for the surrender advanced other argu- 
ments. They pointed to the fact that it was with great difficulty 
that President Brand prevented the Free State Burghers joining the 
Transvaal Boers ; to the exasperation manifested by the Dutch Afri- 
kanders in Cape Colony and Natal, and to the fact that the British 
Government were advised from the Cape that the continuance of 
the struggle would probably light up a race conflict throughout 
South Africa. These were the sole arguments on the score of ex- 
pediency ever advanced. It is needless to point out that no ap- 
peasement of racial animosity followed the conclusion of the Con- 
vention of 1 88 1 . The Boers never respected its terms, but continued 
to importune the British Government for an ampler measure of 
independence. 

The Convention of 1884. 

The late Lord Derby (famous for the instability of his political 
convictions) had succeeded Lord Kimberley as Colonial Secretary, 
and he listened favorably to the application of President Kruger. 
The result was the substitution of the Convention of 1884 for that 
of 1 88 1. This Convention is the basis of the present relations be- 
tween Great Britain and the Transvaal. By its terms the State was 
permitted to call itself the South African Republic, w^hilst the control 
of foreign policy stipulated for in the Convention of 1881 was re- 
duced to the provision that the Republic should conclude no treaty 
with any state or nation (other than the Orange Free State) with- 
out the consent of the Queen. Nothing is said in the Convention 
about "suzerainty," but as it is expressly stated that the articles of 
the Convention of 1884 are substituted for those of 1881, it is con- 



I 76 THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 

tended on behalf of the British that the suzerainty still subsists. 
This contention is strengthened by the fact that in the Pretoria 
Convention suzerainty is mentioned not in the articles but in the 
preamble, which was not renounced by the terms of the London 
Convention. It is further held that the retention of the power of 
vetoing foreign treaties implies suzerainty. 

The Transvaal Constitution. 

It will be of interest to review briefly the Constitution under 
which the South African Republic entered upon its second career of 
independence. This document consists of no less than two hundred 
and thirty-two articles. 

Article 6 declares the territory of the Republic open to every 
stranger who submits himself to the laws — a provision noteworthy 
in view of recent events — and declares all persons within the terri- 
tory equally entitled to the protection of person and property. 

Article 8 states, inter alia, that the people '' permit the spread 
of the Gospel among the heathen, subject to prescribed provisions 
against the practice of fraud and deception " ; a provision upon 
whose intention light is thrown by the hostility of the Boers to the 
missionaries. 

Article 9 declares that *'the people will not tolerate equality 
between colored and white inhabitants either in church or in state." 

Article 10 forbids slavery or dealing in slaves. 

Article 19 grants the liberty of the press. 

The State Church. 

Articles 20 to 23 declare that the people will maintain the 
principles of the doctrine of the Dutch Reformed Church, as fixed 
by the Synod of Dort in 161 8 and 16 19, that the Dutch Reformed 
Church shall be the church of the state, that no persons shall be 
elected to the Volksraad who are not members of that church, that 
no ecclesiastical authority shall be acknowledged save that of the con- 
sistories of that church, and that no Roman Catholic churches, nor 
any Protestant churches save those which teach the doctrine of the 
Heidelberg Catechism, shall be permitted within the Republic, 



THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. I 77 

After these general provisions we come to the frame of gov- 
ernment. Legislation is committed to a Volksraad, "the highest 
authority of the state/' It is to consist of at least twelve members 
(the number is at present twenty-four), who must be over thirty 
years of age and possess landed property. Each district returns an 
equal number of members. Residence within the district -is not 
required of a candidate. The members are elected for two years, 
and one half retire annually. Every citizen who has reached the 
age of twenty-one enjoys the suffrage (persons of color are of 
course incapable of voting or of being elected). "Any matters 
discussed shall be decided by three-fourths of the votes." (Sic.) 
[This provision has been repealed. The length of time required 
for naturalization has also been enormously extended, as we shall 
presently see.] 

Three months are to be given to the people for intimating to 
the Volksraad their opinion on any proposed law, "except laws 
which admit of no delay," but laws may be discussed (apparently, 
however, not enacted) whether published three months before their 
introduction or introduced during the session of the Volksraad. 
The sittings are to open and close with prayer, and are to be public, 
unless the chairman, or the president of the executive council, 
deems secrecy necessary. 

If the high court of justice declares the president or any mem- 
ber of the executive council, or the commandant-general, unfit to 
fill his office, the Volksraad shall remove from office the person so 
declared unfit, and shall provide for filling the vacant office. 

The President. 

The administration, as well as the proposal of laws is entrusted 
to an executive council. Its president is elected for five years by 
the citizens voting all over the country. He must have attained the 
age of thirty and be a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He 
is the highest officer of the state, and all public servants, except 
those who administer justice, are subordinate to him and under his 
supervision. In case of his death, dismissal, or inability to act, his 
functions devolve on the oldest member of the executive council till 

12 



178 THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 

a new appointment is made. The Volksraad shall dismiss him on 
conviction of any serious offence. He is to propose laws to the 
Volksraad — '* whether emanating from himself or sent in to him by 
the people " — and support them in that body either personally or 
through a member of the executive council. He has, however, no 
right to vote there. He recommends to the Volksraad persons for 
appointment to public posts ; and may suspend public servants, 
saving his responsibility to the Volksraad. He submits an estimate 
of revenue and expenditure, reports on his own action during the 
past year and on the condition of the Republic, visits annually all 
towns and villages where any public office exists, to give due oppor- 
tunity to the inhabitants of stating their wishes. 

The executive council consists of four members besides the 
president, namely, the government secretary, the commandant- 
general, and two other members. All except the commandant-gen- 
eral are elected by the Volksraad ; the secretary for four years, the 
two members for three years. The commandant-general is elected 
by the voters of the whole Republic for an unlimited time. All, 
including the president, are entitled to sit, but not to vote, in the 
Volksraad, and all must belong to the Dutch Reformed Church. 
The president and council carry on correspondence with foreign 
powers, and may commute or remit a penal sentence. A sentence 
of death requires the unanimous confirmation of the council. The 
president may, with the unanimous consent of the council, declare 
war and publish a war ordinance summoning all persons to serve. 

The Army. 

The provisions relating to the military organization are inter- 
esting, chiefly as indicating the highly militant character of the 
Republic, which makes express provision not only for foreign war 
and for the maintenance of order at home, but also for the cases of 
native insurrection and of disaffection or civil war among the whites. 
The officers are all elected, the commandant-general by the whole 
body of voters, the commandants by the voters in each district, the 
field cornets and assistant field cornets in the wards. All are chosen 
for unlimited terms. 



THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. I 79 

The Judges. 

The judiciary consists of landrosts (magistrates), heemraden 
(local councillors or assessors), and jurors. The provisions regard- 
ing the exercise of judicial power are minute and curious in their 
way, but have no great interest for constitutional purposes. The 
landrosts are proposed to the people by the executive council, two 
months being allowed the people for sending in objections to the 
names suggested. Very minute provisions regarding the oaths to 
be taken by these officials, their salaries and their duties, including 
the penalties they may inflict, fill the remaining articles. But the 
only guarantee for the independence of the courts is to be found in 
the general statement in Article 15, that "the judicial power is 
vested in landrosts, heemraden and jurors," and in the declaration 
that the judicial officers are to be ** free and independent" of the 
president. A supreme court has subsequently, by enactments of 
1877, 1 88 1, and 1883, been established, consisting of a chief justice 
and four puisne judges. 

The rest of the Grondwet consists of details relating to civil 
administration (which is primarily entrusted to the judicial officers, 
supported by the commandants and field cornets), and the revenue 
of the state, which was intended to be drawn chiefly from fees and 
licenses, the people having little disposition to be directly taxed. 
The farm tax is not to exceed forty dollars, and the poll-tax, payable 
by persons without or with only one farm, is fixed at $5.00 annually. 
Five dollars is the payment allowed to each member of the Volks- 
raad for each day's attendance. The salary of the president of the 
council, which the Grondwet fixes at 5,333 dollars, 2 schellings, and 
4 stuivers, to be increased as the revenue increases, now amounts 
to ^7,000 sterling per annum, besides allowances. 

The Second Voiksraad. 

The most considerable change made in this constitution, be- 
sides the creation of a supreme court already mentioned, has been 
the establishment, in 1890, of a chamber called the Second Voiks- 
raad, which is elected on a more liberal basis than the First Voiks- 
raad — persons who have resided in the country for two years, have 



l8o THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 

taken an oath of allegiance and have complied with divers other re- 
quirements, being admissible as voters. This assembly, however, 
enjoys little real power, for its competency is confined to a few 
specified matters, and its acts may be overruled by the First Raad, 
whereas the Second Raad has no power whatever of passing upon 
the resolutions or laws enacted by the First Raad. The Second 
Volksraad is, therefore, not a second chamber in the ordinary sense 
of the term, such as the Senate in American States or the House of 
Lords in England, but an appendage to the legislature proper. It 
was never intended to have substantial power, and was, in fact, 
nothing more than an unreal concession to the demands of the Uit- 
landers, or recent immigrants excluded from citizenship. To use a 
colloquial expression, it was a "tub thrown to the Uitlander whale." 

Purport of the Constitution. 

A few general observations may be made on this constitution 
before we proceed to examine its legal character and effect. 

It is a crude, untechnical document, showing little trace either 
of legal skill on the part of those who drafted it, or of a knowledge 
of other constitutions. The language is often vague, and many of 
the provisions are far too detailed to be fit for a fundamental law. 

Although enacted by and for a pure democracy, it is based on 
inequality — -inequality of whites and blacks, inequality of religious 
creeds. Not only is the Dutch Reformed Church declared to be 
established and endowed by the state, but Roman Catholic churches 
are forbidden to exist, and no Roman Catholic, nor Jew, nor Prot- 
estant of any other than the Dutch Reformed Church is eligible to 
the presidency, or to membership of the legislature or executive 
council. Some of these restrictions have now been removed. But 
the door is barred as firmly as ever against persons of color. No 
one whose father or mother belonged to any native race, up to and 
including the fourth generation, can obtain civic rights or hold land. 

It contains little in the nature of a Bill of Rights, partly per- 
haps from an oversight on the part of its draftsmen, but partly also 
owing to the assumption — which the history of the Republic, until 
within the last few years, amply verified — that the government 



THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. l8l 

would be a weak one, unable to encroach upon the rights of private 
citizens. 

The Orangre Constitution, 

The Constitution of the Orange Free State is a terse and 
straightforward document of sixty-two articles, most of which are 
only a few lines in length. It begins by defining the qualifications 
for citizenship and the exercise of the suffrage (articles 1-4), and 
incidently imposes the obligation of military service on all citizens 
between the ages of sixteen and sixty. Only whites can be citizens. 
Newcomers may obtain citizenship if they have resided one year in 
the state and have real property to the value of at least ^150, or if 
they have resided three successive years and have made a written 
promise of allegiance. 

Articles 5-27 deal with the composition and functions of the 
Volksraad, or ruling assembly, which is declared to possess the 
supreme legislative authority. It consists of representatives (at 
present fifty-eight in number), one from each of the wards and from 
the chief town or village of each of the (at present nineteen) dis- 
tricts. They are elected for four years, one-half retiring every two 
years. Twelve constitute a quorum. Every citizen is eligible who 
has not been convicted of crime by a jury or been declared a bank- 
rupt or insolvent, who has attained the age of twenty-five years, and 
who possesses fixed (i. e. real) unmortgaged property of the value 
of ^500 at least. 

The Volksraad is to meet annually in May, and may be sum- 
moned to an extra session by its chairman, as also by the president, 
or by the president and the executive council. 

The Volksraad has power to depose the president if insolvent 
or convicted of crime, and may also itself try him on a charge of 
treason, bribery, or other grave crime ; but the whole Volksraad 
must be present or have been duly summoned, and a majority of 
three to one is required for conviction. The sentence shall in these 
cases extend only to deposition from office and disqualification for 
public service in future, the president so deposed being liable to 
further criminal proceedings before the regular courts. 



l82 THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 

The votes of members of the Volksraad shall be recorded on a 
demand by one-fifth of those present. The sittings are to be public, 
save where a special cause for a secret sitting exists. 

The Volksraad shall make no law restricting the right of public 
meeting and petition. 

It shall concern itself with the promotion of religion and educa- 
tion. 

It shall promote and support the Dutch Reformed Church. 

It may alter the constitution, but only by a majority of three- 
fourths of the votes in two consecutive annual sessions. 

It has power to regulate the administration and finances, levy 
taxes, borrow money, and provide for the public defence. 

Articles 28 to 41 deal with the choice and functions of the pres- 
ident of the state. 

He is to be elected by the whole body of citizens, the Volksraad, 
however, recommending one or more persons to the citizens. 

He is chosen for five years and is re-eligible. 

He is the head of the executive, charged with the supervision 
and regulation of the administrative departments and public service 
generally, and is responsible to the Volksraad, his acts being sub- 
ject to an appeal to that body. He is to report annually to the 
Volksraad, to assist its deliberation by his advice, but without the 
right of voting, and, if necessary, to propose bills. He may fill 
vacancies in the public ofifices that occur when the Volksraad is not 
sitting, but his appointments require its confirmation. He may also 
suspend public functionaries, but dismissal appears to require the 
consent of the Volksraad. 

He may declare war and make peace and treaties, but in all cases 
only with the consent of the Volksraad. 

Articles 42 to 46 deal with the executive council. The execu- 
tive council consists of five members, besides the state president, 
who is ex-officio chairman, with a casting vote. Of these five, one is 
the landrost (magistrate) of Bloemfontein, another the state secre- 
tary, both these officials being appointed by the president and con- 
firmed by the Volksraad ; the remaining three are elected by the 



THE CONVENTIONS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BOERS. 1 83 

Volksraad. This council advises the president, reports its proceed- 
ings annually to the Volksraad, and has the rights, in conjunction 
with the president, of pardoning offenders and of declaring martial law. 

Regarding the judicial power only two provisions require men- 
tion. Article 48 declares this power to be exclusively exercisable 
by the courts of law established bylaw. Article 49 secures trial by 
jury in all criminal causes in the superior courts. 

Local government and military organization, subjects intimately 
connected in Dutch South Africa, occupy articles 50 to 56 inclusive. 

A field cornet is elected by the citizens of each ward, a field 
commandant by those of each district, in both cases from among 
themselves. In case of war, all the commandants and cornets taken 
together elect a commandant-general, who thereupon receives his 
instructions from the president. Those who elected him may, with 
the consent of the president, dismiss him and choose another. Every 
field cornet and commandant must have landed property, the latter 
to the value of ^200 at least. 

Article 57 declares Roman Dutch law to be the common law of 
the state. 

Articles 58 and 59 declare that the law shall be administered 
without respect of persons and that every resident shall be held 
bound to obey it, while articles 60, 61 and 62 guarantee the rights 
of property, of personal liberty, and of press freedom. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



The Explorations and Missionary Work of Livingstone— Burton and 
Spel<e— Up tine Nile— Batcer and His Work— Livingstone in Zam- 
bezia— Stanley's First Venture— Dr. Rohlfs — Dr. Nacht- 
igal— Miss Tinne— Paul Du Chaillu— Serpa Pinto— Dr. 
Schweinfurth— On the Zambezi— The "Scramble 
for Africa"— Rhodesia— Joseph Thomson- 
Stanley and Emin Pasha — West 
Africa— Somaliland. 



WE must now retrace our steps a little to take some account 
of the development of Africa, the literal opening up of the 
Dark Continent, by the missionaries and explorers of the 
present century, and especially of the latter half of the 
century. The first and greatest of them all was the illustrious 
Scotch missionary, David Livingstone, of whom some mention has 
already been made. He had settled in Bechuanaland in 1841, and 
had gradually extended his journeys further and further north, until, 
Avith William Oswell and Murray, two English sportsmen, he dis- 
covered Lake Ngami. Mr. Francis Galton had attempted to reach 
this lake in 1851 by an interesting but very difficult journey through 
Damaraland ; but he did not succeed in getting nearer to Ngami 
than the bed of a dried-up watercourse, the Omaramba. Andersson, 
a Swede, however, in 1851 left Walfish Bay, and traveling through 
Ovamboland, managed to arrive at the shores of Ngami. Green 
explored the lower course of the Okabango-Toege in 1856. 

In 1 85 1 Livingstone, accompanied by his wife and family, and 
by Mr. Oswell, reached the Zambezi at Sesheke. Feeling himself 
on the threshold of vast discoveries, Livingstone despatched his wife 
and family to England, with the monetary help of Mr. Oswell, and 
placed himself under the tuition of Sir Thomas McClear, the Astron- 
omer Royal at Cape Town. Turning his face northward in June^ 

(184) 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 85 

1852, he reached the Zambezi again in that year, traced it along its 
upper course, near to its source, and then traveled across to Angola, 
which he reached in May, 1854. Returning again from Angola to 
the Zambezi, he followed that river, more or less closely, to near its 
mouth, and then made his way to Quelimane, by the route always 
followed until the recent discovery of the Chinde mouth of the Zam- 
bezi. From Quelimane he was conveyed by a British gunboat to 
Mauritius, and arrived in London on the 12th of December, 1856. 

Burton and Speke. 

Somaliland had been first explored in 1854 by Richard Francis 
Burton and John Hanning Speke. Burton was an officer in the 
Indian army, and had previously made a remarkable journey to the 
holy places of the Hedjaz. In 1856 the Royal Geographical Society 
(which had developed from out of the African Association in 1830) 
despatched an expedition under the command of Burton, who chose 
Speke for his lieutenant, to discover the great lakes which the Ger- 
man missionaries reported to exist. 

As a result of this epoch-making exploration. Burton discovered 
Tanganyika (though he only mapped out the northern half), and 
Speke discovered the south shore of the Victoria Nyanza. Hurry- 
ing home before Burton, Speke got the ear of the Geographical So- 
ciety, and was at once sent back (with Captain J. A. Grant as his 
companion) to discover the sources of the Nile. Burton was rather 
hardly treated in the matter, but he was a man too clever for his 
times, and one who made many enemies among the pompous, re- 
spectable, retired merchants who in those days directed geographical 
exploration at home. 

Speke and Grant reached the southern end of the Victoria Ny- 
anza, journeyed northwards and missed the Albert Nyanza, then, 
met and relieved by Sir Samuel Baker, traveled down the Nile to 
Egypt. It was a most remarkable journey, but in some senses a 
blundering one, remarkable as much for what it missed as for what 
was gained in exploration. Through not having made any survey 
of the vast lake they believed they had found, and not being able to 
give much idea of its shape and area, its very existence came after- 



I 86 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

wards to be doubted until it was conclusively established by Stanley. 
Speke and Grant had left England in April, i860, and reached Khar- 
toum on the 30th of March, 1864, and England soon afterwards. 
Speke died from a gun accident in September, 1864. Grant, after- 
wards made a Colonel and a C. B., accompanied the British expedi- 
tion to Abyssinia and lived until 1892. 

Up the Nile. 

Prior to the journey of Speke and Grant down the Nile, that 
river had been already made known up to the vicinity of the great lakes 
by explorers following in the footsteps of the military expeditions 
sent by Muhammad Ali to conquer the Soudan. A Catholic mission 
had established itself on the Upper Nile in 1848, mainly supported 
by the Austrian Government. Amongst the missionaries was Dr. 
Ignatius Knoblecher, who in 1849 explored the White Nile as far as 
Gobdokoro and Mount Logwek. Other explorations were carried 
out by Giovanni Beltrame, another missionary. A Maltese ivory 
merchant named Andrea Debono and a Venetian named Giovanni 
Miani had also explored the White Nile, and the latter w^as the first 
European to visit the Nyam-nyam country. An English ivory 
trader named Petherick had started from Khartoum in November, 
1853, and had ascended the Bahr-al-Ghazal and the Nyam-nyam 
country. He was entrusted with the mission of meeting and re- 
lieving Speke and Grant, but by some accident he failed to do so. 
On one of his later journeys he was accompanied by Dr. Murie, 
a naturalist (who is one of the few early Nile explorers living at 
the present time), as far as Gondokoro. Heuglin, Kiezelbach, Mun- 
zinger, and Steudner were among the methodical German ex- 
plorers who traveled in the Egyptian Soudan and in Abyssinia in 
1861 and 1862. 

Baker and His Work. 

The greatest explorer of these regions, however, next to Speke 
and Grant, was Mr. (afterwards Sir Samuel) Baker, who with his wife 
conducted an exploration of the Upper Nile on his own account 
with the intention of meeting, and if possible succoring, Speke and 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 87 

Grant. Baker had previously explored the Abyssinian tributaries 
of the Nile. After leaving- Speke and Grant to continue their home- 
ward journey, he started off for the south to fill up the blanks in 
their discoveries. The Nile was reached in the Bunyoro country, 
and after a long detention at the court of the scoundrelly Nyoro 
king, and after incredible sufferings, Baker and his wife discovered 
the Albert Nyanza, which, from various causes, he took to be much 
larger than it really is. The entrance and exit of the Nile from 
the Albert Nyanza were visited. 

The Bakers reached Gondokoro, and then returned homewards 
in March, 1865. Their journey down the White Nile was blocked 
by the obstruction of a vegetable growth (the sudd). At last this 
was cut through, and Egypt was eventually reached. When Baker 
returned to London he was knighted for the discoveries he had 
made. The Albert Nyanza was afterwards circumnavigated by 
Gessi Pasha, a Levantine Italian, in the service of the Egyptian 
Government, and by Colonel Mason Bey. Neither of them, curiously 
enough, noticed the Semliki flowing into the lake, nor did they catch 
sight of the snow^-covered Ruwenzori. 

Livingstone in Zambezia. 

Livingstone's first great journey resulted in his being sent 
back with a strong expedition to pursue his discoveries in Zambezia. 
During these journeys, between 1858 and 1864, the river Shire was 
explored, and Lake Nyaza was discovered and partially mapped. 
Livingstone was accompanied by Dr. (afterwards Sir John) Kirk, 
who made most valuable natural history collections, and whose sub- 
sequent long career as Political Agent at Zanzibar, and many explo- 
rations along the East coast of Africa, have caused his name to be 
imperishably connected with that part of the continent. 

The French occupation of Algeria and their conquests in Sene- 
gambia had naturally produced considerable exploring work. 
Though much was done piece by piece, it has not resulted in the 
handing down of notable names, with some few exceptions. Panet, 
a Frenchman, in 1850, traveled overland along the Sahara coast 
from St. Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal, to Morocco. Vincent, 



I 88 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

another Frenchman, in i860, explored the country from St. Louis 
to the Adrar district of the Sahara, behind what is nowadays the 
Spanish Protectorate of the Rio de Oro. Paul Soleillet described 
the Algerian Sahara, and Duveyrier, a really scientific traveler, 
made important journeys from Algeria, southward and south-east- 
ward, adding much to our knowledge of the Northern Sahara. 
Duveyrier visited the interior of western Tripoli, and brought back 
considerable information about the Touareg and their dialects. 

Stanley's First Venture. 

In 1866 Livingstone resumed his explorations of East-Central 
Africa. He traveled overland south-westwards from the Ruvuma 
River to the south end of Lake Nyassa, then north-west and north 
to the south end of Tanganyika, thence from Tanganyika to Lake 
Mweru to the mighty Luapula River, and to Bangweolo, which 
lakes and river he discovered in 1868. Again reaching Tanganyika, 
he joined some Arabs and crossed the Manyema country eastward 
to Nyangwe, on the Lualaba-Congo. From here he returned to 
Ujiji, where he was met by Mr. H. M. Stanley, who had been sent 
by the '* New York Herald " to relieve the great explorer. 

After traveling with Stanley half-way back to Zanzibar, Living- 
stone returned to Lake Bangweolo, and died there in 1873. Various 
expeditions had been despatched to his relief. One, under Lieu- 
tent Grandy, was sent out in 1873 to ascend the Congo, but the 
expedition was most unfortunate, and the explorer died near Sao 
Salvador. After many changes and withdrawals, a great expedition, 
organized by the Royal Geographical Society, started from Zanzibar, 
in 1873, to find and relieve Livingstone. It was under the leadership 
of Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Vernon Lovett Cameron. Cam- 
eron soon heard of Livingtone's death, but pushed on to Tanganyika, 
and mapped that lake for the first time accurately. He then trav- 
eled across to the Lualaba, which his altitudes practically deter- 
mined to be none other than the upper Congo ; but, deterred from 
descending it by the tremendous difficulties that offered themselves, 
he struck south-westwards across a country not very difficult to 
traverse- — the slightly civilized Mwata Yanvo's empire (impregnated 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 89 

with Portuguese influence), and reached Benguela in November, 
1875, the first Englishman to cross Africa. 

Dr. Rohlfs. 

At the beginning of the '6o's, Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs, one of the 
greatest of African travelers, began to explore Morocco. He had 
enlisted in the Foreign Legion, serving in Algeria, was a doctor of 
medicine, a renegade, and had a great knowledge of Arabic. He 
therefore traveled about the southern part of Morocco, and pen- 
etrated to the oases of Twat and Ghadames in the Sahara (1864), 
and in 1865, reached Fezzan and Tibesti. In 1866, he started on a 
journey to Bornu, and eventually penetrated across the Niger to 
Lagos, on the Guinea coast, thus being the first European to make 
a complete journey from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Guinea, 
In 1873 h^ explored the oases in the Libyan Desert, and in 1878 
he conducted an expedition, despatched by the German Government, 
to Wadai, but got no further than the oasis of Kufra. Subsequently, 
two Italians, Dr. Pellegrino Matteucci and Lieutenant Alfonso Maria 
Massari, accompanied as far as Darfur by Prince Giovanni Bor- 
ghese, traveled across Africa, from East to West, by way of Suakin, 
Kordofan, Wadai, Bornu, Kano and Nupe, to the Niger, whence 
they returned to England, where Matteucci unfortunately died. 
They were the first Europeans to cross Africa from East to West, but 
their journey was not productive of much geographical knowledge. 

Dr. Nachtigral. 

From the point of view of knowledge acquired and transmitted, 
one of the most remarkable journeys ever made in Africa was that 
of Dr. Nachtigal, who, after having served as physician to the Bey 
of Tunis, was appointed in 1868 by the Prussian Government to 
take presents to the Sultan of Bornu. Leaving Tripoli in February, 
1869, Nachtigal halted at first in Fezzan, and from that country made 
a very interesting journey to Tibesti, a mountainous region in the 
very middle of the Sahara Desert. He was the first and only Euro- 
pean who has really examined this remarkable mountainous region. 
Returning to Murzuk, he resumed his journey to Bornu, where he 



1 90 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

arrived in 1870. He thoroughly explored Lake Chad, and much of 
the Shari River ; visited Bagirmi, Wadai (where an earlier German 
traveler, Moritz Von Beurmann, had been murdered in 1863, when 
searching for Vogel), Songhai, Darfur, Dar Runga and Kordofan, 
thence returning home through Egypt. He brought back with him 
an enormous mass of geographical and linguistic information. 

Miss Tinne. 

In his journey from Tripoli to Fezzan Nachtigal was accom- 
panied by an extraordinary personage, Miss Tinne, perhaps — if she 
preceded Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer, who explored Madagascar in i860 — the 
first European woman to explore Africa on her own account. Miss 
Tinne was said to be the richest heiress in the Netherlands. She, 
her mother, and her aunt had been in the habit of passing their 
winters in Egypt. In 1861 they ascended the Nile as far as the 
Sobat River. In 1863 a most important expedition was organized 
by Miss Tinne, consisting of her mother and aunt, three German 
gentlemen, and herself. They set out to explore the Bahr-al-Ghazal, 
and finally reached the Nyam-nyam country. They were accom- 
panied even by European ladies' maids, and 200 servants. By July, 
1864, on returning to Khartoum, Miss Tinne had lost, through fever, 
her mother, her aunt, and one of the German explorers. She then 
traveled alone for four years in North Africa. Determining to make 
an expedition to Lake Chad, she attached herself to Nachtigal's 
expedition as far as Murzuk. Afterwards, traveling on by herself, 
she was treacherously attacked by the Touareg of the Sahara, and 
murdered ; for it was supposed that the iron water-tanks carried on 
camels were full of treasure. What became of the unfortunate 
maid-servants she had with her, history does not relate. They 
probably led for a few years an indescribably wretched existence as 
the wives of Touareg raiders. So perished one of the most pic- 
turesque of African explorers — Alexandrine Tinne. 

Paul du Chaillu. 

On the west coast of Africa the most remarkable journeys 
made in the '50's and '6o's were those of Paul du Chaillu, who 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. I9I 

traveled in the Gaboon country, and whose natural history collec- 
tions almost surpassed those of any other traveler for their richness 
and the remarkable forms they revealed. He will always be remem- 
bered as the man who practically discovered the gorilla. Winwood 
Reade, the first African traveler who was at the same time a literary 
man, visited the west coast of Africa in the '6o's and traveled 
inland to the source of the Niger. His exploring journeys were of 
small account, but his descriptions of West Africa are the most 
vivid, the most truthful, and will perhaps prove to be the most en- 
during, of any that we possess. Captain Richard Burton, of Tan- 
ganyika fame, who had been appointed Consul at Fernando Po, 
ascended the peak of the Cameroons, and visited Dahome and the 
falls of the Congo between i860 and 1864. The Marquis de Com- 
piegne and Herr Oskar Lenz explored the Ogowe River, in French 
West Africa, in 1873; and later on Mr. Grenfell, of the Baptist 
Mission (afterwards to become still more famous), considerably in- 
creased our knowledge of the Cameroons. 

Livingstone's death and Cameron's successful crossing of 
Africa did a great deal to arouse European interest in that continent. 
Stanley was dispatched by the " New York Herald" and the '' Daily 
Telegraph" to complete Livingstone's explorations of the Unknown 
River. In 1875 he started on that journey, which in its discoveries 
and its results is the greatest to be found in the annals of African 
exploration. He circumnavigated the Victoria Nyanza, circum- 
navigated Tanganyika, marched across the Lualaba, and followed 
its course resolutely and in the teeth of fearful obstacles until he 
proved it to be the Congo, and emerged on the Atlantic Ocean. 

Serpa Pinto. 

Cameron's journeys had aroused the Portuguese from their 
lethargy. Three explorers, Serpa Pinto, Brito Capello, and Roberto 
Ivens, were dispatched to Angola. Leaving Sao Paulo de Loanda 
in 1877, Serpa Pinto journeyed in zigzags to the Zambezi, and de- 
scended that river to the Barutse country, whence he accompanied 
M. Coillard, the French missionary, across the Kalahari Desert to 
the Transvaal. Capello and Ivens explored the northern part of 



/ 

192 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

Angola and the River Ewango. Two or three years later they 
started on a journey remarkable for the importance of the geo- 
graphical results obtained. They explored much of the Upper 
Zambezi, tracing that river to its source, traveled along the water- 
parting between the Zambezi and the Congo, and then turned south- 
wards again to the Zambezi, and so out to the Indian Ocean. 

Dr. Schweinfurth. 

In the Nile regions, explorations were steadily continuing. One 
of the *' great" African travelers, Georg August Schweinfurth, a 
native of German Russia (Riga), first visited the Nile valley as a 
botanist. In 1868, he started on a journey of exploration up the 
White Nile and the Bahr-al-Ghazal, accompanying Nubian ivory 
merchants. With these he penetrated far to the southward through 
the Nyam-nyam country till he reached the Monbuttu, and there he 
discovered the Welle River flowing to the west, which ultimately 
turned out to be one of the principal feeders of the Ubangi, the 
great northern confluent of the Congo. Schweinfurth returned to 
Egypt in 1872, and has since devoted himself to the botanical explo- 
ration of Egypt, Arabia and Abyssinia. His journey, from the enor- 
mous amount of material gathered together, was surpassed in im- 
portance by few African explorations. 

Sir Samuel Baker (i 868-' 73), and later, General Gordon, became 
Governors-General of the Egyptian Soudan, a vast dependency of 
the half-European State of Egypt, which naturally, whether under 
European or Egyptian governors, employed large numbers of Euro- 
peans. Amongst those who added to our geographical knowledge 
were Colonel Purdy-Bey, Colonel Colston, the great General Gor- 
don, Marno (a Viennese) ; Colonel Chaille Long (an American), 
who visited Uganda, discovered Lake Ibrahim, and actually proved 
that the Nile flowed out of the Victoria Nyanza, and then into the 
Albert Nyanza ; and Linant de Bellefonds, a Belgian, who also visited 
Uganda whilst Stanley was there in 1875, Stanley giving him a 
famous letter to be posted in Egypt. There were also Colonel 
Mason Bey and Gessi Pasha, who circumnavigated the Albert Ny- 
anza ; poor Lupton Bey, who explored the Bahr-al-Ghazal and Nyam- 



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THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 93 

nyam country, and died after long captivity in the Mahdi's hands ; 
and Slatin Pasha, once Governor of Darfur, who has had a happier 
fate. 

On the Zambezi. 

The establishment of missions in Nyassaland drew explorers 
thither. Captain Frederic Elton, who had been appointed Consul 
at Mozambique, journeyed to Lake Nyassa with several companions, 
explored the northern extremity of the lake, and started to return 
overland to Zanzibar, but died on the way. His successor as Con- 
sul, Lieutenant H. E. O'Neill, crossed backwards and forwards over 
utterly unknown ground between Mozambique and Nyassa, fixed 
many positions at the south end of the lake and in the Shire High- 
lands, and explored many parts of the Portuguese East Africa north 
of the Zambezi. Bishop Steere, Archdeacon Chauncey Maples, 
Bishop Smythies, and other missionaries of the Universities Mis- 
sion, also explored the country between Lake Nyassa and the River 
Ruvuma and the Mozambique coast. South of the Zambezi, ex- 
plorations had been carried out by Baldwin, Baines, Anderson, 
Ericsson, and other sportsmen-travelers. Carl Mauch and Edward 
Mohr (Germans) had explored Mashonaland, and had discovered 
the remarkable ruins of Zimbabwe. In 1875 Dr. Pogge had made 
a journey from Angola to the court of the Mwata Yanvo. Two 
other Germans, named Reichardt and Bohm, had in the later '70's 
crossed Tanganyika from Zanzibar, and explored the country to the 
north of Lake Mweru. 

A remarkable journey was made in 1878-9 by Dr. R. W. Pelkin, 
who with one or more missionary companions of the Church Mis- 
sionary Society, journeyed overland from Suakin up the Nile to 
Uganda. They came back again (with the Rev. C. T. Wilson) in 
1 88 1 from Uganda via the White Nile, Bahr-al-Ghazal and Darfur 
to Egypt. 

The ** Scramble for Africa." 

The return of Cameron and the subsequent success of Stanley 
had caused the King of the Belgians to become intensely interested 
in the exploration of Africa, at first, no doubt, from a disinterested 

13 



I 94 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

love of knowledge, but soon afterwards with the definite Idea of 
creating in the unoccupied parts of that continent a huge native 
confederation or state which should become dependent on Belgium. 
The king summoned to Brussels distinguished ''Africans" from most 
European countries with the desire of forming an International Com- 
mittee which should bring about the complete exploration of Africa. 
But this international enterprise soon split up into national sections, 
and what the King of the Belgians had Intended should be entirely 
disinterested geographical work ultimately developed into the 
** Scramble for Africa." Still, it did lead considerably to the increase 
of geographical knowledge. 

The Royal Geographical Society sent out a well-equipped ex- 
pedition to Zanzibar to explore the country between Tanganyika 
and Nyassa. It was under the orders of Keith Johnston, who died 
soon after starting, leaving his task to be fulfilled by Joseph Thomson. 
Mr. Thomson was completely successful, and covered much new 
ground between Nyassa and Tanganyika to the west of Tangan- 
yika, and to the south, where he discovered the north end of Lake 
Rukwa. On the west coast the French Section dispatched De 
Brazza to explore what is now French Congo. His geographical 
discoveries led to annexation. Antonelli and other Italians directed 
their efforts to the exploration of Shoa, to the south of Abyssinia. 
But the main outcome of this action on the part of the King of 
the Belgians was the founding of the Congo Free State. Mr. 
Stanley was sent back to the Congo at the expense of a small com- 
mittee — eventually at the sole charge of the King of the Belgians. 
Whilst he was by degrees reascending the Congo and making 
many geographical discoveries, such as the Lakes Leopold and 
Mantumba, a Baptist missionary already referred to, Mr. George 
Grenfell, made known the UbangI River, a northern affluent of 
the Congo, which Vangele and other Belgian explorers afterwards 
determined to be the Wells. 

Lieutenant Hermann Wissmann (afterwards Major von Wiss- 
mann) mapped out the course of the Kasal, and other southern 
affluents of the Congo, and crossed and recrossed Africa, coming out 
at Zanzibar and at the Zambezi, 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 95 

Rhodesia. 

In 1879, Dr. Oskar Lenz, who had previously explored the 
Ogowe, journeyed from Morocco to Timbuctoo, and from Timbuc- 
too to Senegambia. Subsequently Dr. Lenz ascended the Congo, 
and crossed over to Tanganyika, returning to Europe by the Zam- 
bezi on a more or less futile attempt to discover the whereabouts 
of Emin Pasha. In the earlier '8o's another Austrian explorer. Dr. 
Holub, traveled in South Africa and made an unsuccessful jour- 
ney into Central Zambezi. The celebrated hunter of big game, 
Mr. F. C. Selous, not only added much to our knowledge of South 
Central Africa (the Rhodesia of to-day), but penetrated north of the 
Zambezi into the valley of the Kafue river, his explorations in that 
direction having only been ''caught up with" quite recently. Mr. 
F. S. Arnot, a missionary, made a remarkable journey from South 
to Central Africa, exploring the southern part of the Congo basin 
(Katanga) and reaching the west coast of Benguela. In 1884 Lieu- 
tenant Giraud, a Frenchman, made an interesting journey to Lake 
Bangweolo, which he was the first European to map with any de- 
gree of accuracy. In 1882, the Earl of Mayo, accompanied by the 
present writer, explored the River Kunene, in South-west Africa. 
Subsequently the author of this book traveled through Angola and 
up the River Congo, and on his return journey to England visited 
that little known part of Africa, Portuguese Guinea. He was subse- 
quently sent on an expedition to Mt. Kilima-njaro, in East Africa. 
Amongst other geographical work he visited little known parts of 
Tunis in 1880 and 1897 ; discovered (with Dr. Cross) the southern 
end of Lake Rukwa, in East Central Africa, in 1889; in 1886-88 
explored the Cameroons and the Niger Delta ; and made numerous 
journeys in British Central Africa (1889-95). 

Joseph Thomson. 

In 1883, Joseph Thomson, already famous as an African ex- 
plorer, was sent on a most important mission by the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society. He was to cross the nearly unknown country separa- 
ting the Mobasa littoral from the East coast of the Victoria Nyanza, 
between the two great snow mountains of Kenia and Kilimannjaro 



196 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

(Kilima-njaro, since Krapf's and Rebmann's reports, had been 
thoroughly mapped by Baron von der Decken ; it had also been as- 
cended nearly to the snow level by Mr. Charles New). Mr. Thom- 
son's visit to Kilima-njaro nearly coincided with that of the present 
writer, and was of short duration. He practically rediscovered 
Kenia (Krapf's account being so vague that it had become re- 
garded as semi-mythical), and photographed this second greatest 
snow mountain of Africa. After some difficulties he succeeded in 
penetrating the Masai country, and discovered the great Rift valley 
of Lake Naivasha, together with Lake Baringo, and succeeded in 
reaching the north-east coast of Victoria Nyanza — a most remark- 
able journey, resulting in great additions to our geographical knowl- 
edge. Mr. Thomson subsequently made a journey from the mouth 
of the Niger to Sokoto, explored the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, 
mapped much fresh country in Central Zambezi, and died, still a 
young man and much regretted, in 1895. The Hungarian, Count 
Samuel Teleki, who followed in Thomson's footsteps, discovered 
Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie. Lieutenant Huhnel, who went with 
him, accompanied other expeditions in the same direction and 
accomplished admirable surveying work. 

Stanley and Emin Pasha. 

Then came the last epoch-making journey of Stanley — the 
search for Emin Pasha. After the British occupation of Egypt and 
the loss of the Soudan, Emin Pasha had retreated to the Equatorial 
Province. Through Dr. William Junker (a Russian traveler, who 
had made journeys of the first rank in the western watershed of the 
Nile, and had brought back an immense mass of valuable informa- 
tion), he managed to communicate with Europe, by way of Uganda, 
making known his condition, and appealing for help. Stanley was 
placed at the head of a great English expedition which was to go to 
his relief. He traveled by way of the Congo, and at the junction 
of the Congo and the Aruwini, entered the unknown. He crossed 
that always difficult barrier, the Bantu borderland — in this case an 
almost impenetrable forest. After overcoming innumerable ob- 
stacles, Stanley met Emin Pasha on the Albert Nyanza, and eventu- 



THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 1 97 

ally escorted him to the coast at Zanzibar. In the course of this 
journey Stanley discovered Ruwenzori, the third highest mountain in 
Africa, the Albert Edward Nyanza (one of the ultimate lake sources 
of the Nile), and the Semliki River, which connects the Albert Ed- 
ward and the Albert Nyanza. 

West Africa. 

In West Africa, which had for some time been neglected as a 
field for exploration, there still remained gaps to be filled up — in 
the great bend of the Niger, and behind the Cameroons. In the 
last-named country, German travelers, Dr. Zintgraft, Morgen, Kund 
and Tappenbeck, Von Stettin, Uechtritz and Passarge, explored the 
mountainous country between the Cameroons and the Benue water- 
shed, or traced the course of the great and hitherto quite unknown 
rivers of Lom and Mbam, which unite and form the Sanaga, a river 
which enters the sea on the south side of the Cameroons estuary. 
Dr. Baumann also explored the neglected island of Fernando Po. 
In the bend of the Niger various French explorers and one or two 
Germans and Englishmen filled up the blanks. Notable among- 
these was Captain Binger, who was the first to make known much 
of the country between the Upper Niger and the Guinea coast, and 
Colonel Monteil, who traveled across from the Upper Niger to the 
Central Niger, and thence to Lake Chad and Tripoli (1894). The 
gap between the basin of the Congo and Lake Chad was partly 
filled up by the explorations of Crampel, Dybowski, Maistre, Gentil 
and other French travelers. 

To come down to quite recent times, Mr. Alfred Sharpe (now 
H. M. Commissioner in British Central Africa), gradually mapped 
Lake Mweru, discovered the large salt marsh between that lake and 
Tanganyika, explored the Luapula and the Luangwa, and made other 
interesting discoveries in South-Central Africa, discoveries since sup- 
plemented by the survey of Lake Bangweolo by Mr. Poulett Weath- 
erly. M. Lionel Decle, the well-known French traveler, made a 
journey from Cape Town overland to the White Nile, by way of 
Lakes Nyassa, Tanganyika, and Victoria Nyanza. Count Goetzen 
explored the unknown country between the Albert Edward Nyanza 



198 THE EXPLORATIONS AND MISSIONARY WORK OF LIVINGSTONE. 

and Tanganyika, discovering the lofty volcano of Virunga and Lake 
Kivu ; and Mr. Scott Elliott journeyed from the East coast to Mt. 
Ruwenzori, and thence to British Central Africa for botanical 
purposes. 

Somaliland. 

The great eastern horn of Africa, Somaliland and Gallaland, 
was long left unexplored after Burton and Speke's journey to Harrar 
in the '50's. At the beginning of the '8o's its exploration was again 
attacked. Messrs. F. L. and W. D. James, with three companions, 
penetrated Somaliland as far south as the Webbe Shebeili River. 
They were followed in exploration by Ruspoli, Bricchetti-Robecchi, 
Botteggo (Italians) and Revoil and Borelli (Frenchmen). The last 
named made a most important journey south from Abyssinia, and 
discovered the Omo River. His account of his travels, published 
by the French Government, is an almost perfect exemplar of what 
such a work should be. Mr. W. Astor Chanler, an American, after- 
wards made a very important exploration of Gallaland, north of the 
Tana River. Dr. J. W. Gregory, of the British Museum, traveled 
to Lake Baringo and Kenia, which mountain he ascended higher 
than any preceding explorer. Mr. Gregory's journey was produc- 
tive of much information regarding the geology of the countries 
traversed. Dr. Donaldson Smith (an American) traveled over these 
countries between Somaliland and Bantu, East Africa, bringing back 
much new information. Captain Swayne has explored the interior 
of Somaliland; Lieutenant Vandeleur has surveyed Uganda and 
Unyoro (where also Major MacDonald, the late Captain B. L. Sclater 
and Captain Pringle, R. E., have done excellent surveying work) ; 
and Mr. H. Cavendish has just performed a remarkable journey 
right across the eastern horn of Africa. 

In this review of explorers many names have been omitted, and 
only the leading journeys have been touched on. A great deal of 
the existing map of Africa has been quietly and unostentatiously 
compiled by patient officials, whose work has often been anonymous, 
and who have done much to correct the lightning-flash streaks across 
the darkness of unexplored Africa drawn by the great pioneers. 



CHAPTER XIV, 



The Transvaal Parliament — Secret Sittings — The Favorite Topic— 

Kruger's Influence— The Second Raad— What the Members 

are Like— The Cape Parliament— Plenty of Room— The 

Sessions— Winter Sessions. 



MUCH has been heard recently of President Kruger, not only 
the nominal, but also the very real head of the South African 
Republic ; and much also has been heard of that curious 
Batavian Hollander, Dr. Leyds, the State Secretary, the most 
astute adviser of the head of the State. Little, however, is heard 
of the Raads, those two most obedient assemblies whose members 
are the elected representatives of the free burghers of the State. 
This is indeed strict justice, for both Raads, and especially the first, 
have been content to play an entirely subordinate part ; and instead 
of the President occupying his theoretical place as the servant of 
the people — which means to the Dutchmen and Burghers — the repre- 
sentatives of the burghers have been the humble followers of the 
President. This is a position of affairs not unknown in other Re- 
publics, but the course of public affairs has particularly accentuated 
it in the Transvaal. The theory of Government as laid down in the 
Grondwet, the foundation law or constitution of the Republic, 
provides for a President and Vice-President, a State Secretary, and 
five other members who form the Executive Council; the First 
Raad, or general elective body, with complete power only limited by 
the Grondwet ; and the Second Raad, a sort of minor elective 
Council for local affairs, and to whose care is also nominally entrusted 
all that relates to the mining industry. The Chambers in which 
these two elective bodies meet are in the block of the Government 
buildings at Pretoria, a handsome pile, with one grand entrance from 
the church square. They are fairly lofty, well-lighted rooms, each 

(199) 



200 THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 

with raised dais, and central seats for the Chairman, President, and 
State Secretary ; and the Secretary and Minute-Keeper of the Raad, 
and the members, sit each one in his own appointed chair. 

Secret Sittings 

Scanty provision is made for visitors inside grilles, and for the 
Press a gallery is set apart, from which it is almost impossible to 
hear. This last is not of very great moment, for almost every 
matter of the least possible interest is considered in secret session. 
The meetings are opened with prayers, and the attendance roll is most 
jealously kept. Any member absent from a meeting is docked of 
his day's pay, and so determined are some of the members that 
there shall be no shirkers in the matter of attendance, even though 
nothing be accomplished, that during last session it was even pro- 
posed that any member absent for half an hour should be considered 
an absentee for the day. Careful minutes are kept of all proceed- 
ings, and the rules of debate are practically those with which Parlia- 
mentary procedure elsewhere has rendered us familiar. Day by day 
they are continually violated, however ; members get heated in their 
arguments and conversation, hurl defiances one at the other, and 
even sometimes indulge in challenges to head-punching contests. 

The Favorite Topic. 

All burghers of the Republic have the right to present memo- 
rials and petitions to the Raads direct, and each of these must be 
considered, and a report made in open session. As the Transvaal 
burgher is still, to all intents and purposes, a pastoralist, accustomed 
to free access to his elected chiefs and governors, the consideration 
of these occupy the greater part of each session ; and whether 
Hendrick Viljoen shall have a free grant of land and a pension 
because he is aged and poor, and was one of the original voortrek- 
kers, or whether some remote dorp shall have a bridge over a 
torrent that is dry eleven and a half months out of the twelve, are 
far more important questions than whether Johannesburg shall have 
municipal government, or whether the Education Office is working 
in a satisfactory manner. It has not in the past been at all uncom- 



THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 20I 

mon for a whole fortnight of the session to be continuously devoted 
to minor and personal petitions. The foregoing applies generally 
to both First and Second Raads. The First Raad, however, is the 
principal and original elective body, and is most careful to maintain 
its pre-eminence. It alone can deserve the title of a legislative body; 
and, as before pointed out, in theory it possesses absolute power. 
It can initiate legislation without regard to the Second Raad, and 
can insist on its enactments being passed into law by Presidential 
promulgation. Its members comprise every variety of the Trans- 
vaal Dutchmen, but the educated and enlightened men are sadly in 
the minority. 

Krugrer's Influence. 

Sometimes the First Raad does not go in the path that the 
South African "Grand Old Man" has marked out for it. Then he 
comes himself into the Raad, and with a most perfect knowledge of 
his creatures, wheedles, storms, or threatens resignation, as the 
occasion calls for. This last is the President's ultimate resort, and 
it has never yet failed to have due effect. These special appear- 
ances are always managed with consummate art, as on the famous 
occasion when, in response to an Outlander petition for the franchise, 
the President struck an attitude, and with tears declared that only 
over his dead body should they ever get it. 

Sometimes the President gets really angry, as, for instance, 
when questions are asked as to improvements in the way of dams, 
roads, etc., that have been made, at the public expense, on his 
private farms, or as to the misdeeds of one or other of his numer- 
ous descendants. 

The Second Raad. 

This body was constituted as a sop to the Outlander, a special 
Raad to deal with minor matters, such as the Gold Law, and the 
mining industry, and native labor problems, and such-like — all of 
the least importance when compared with a burgher's petition for a 
new free farm. Even on its own special matters the Second Raad 
can do nothing but consider what is remitted to it, and make sug- 
gestions which may or may not be adopted. 



202 THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 

What the Members Are Like. 

Of the actual members of the Raads it may b«. oaid that the 
members of the Second Raad are of higher average than those of 
the First ; they are certainly better educated, and are men with more 
knowledge of the world. Since the establishment of the Second 
Raad, the members of the First have universally adopted black coats, 
hats, and collars for their Pretoria costume. The members of the 
First Raad are still, as they were, uneducated, half-nomadic pastor- 
alists, whose only idea of policy is a low cunning born of their deal- 
ings with various tribes which have been cursed with the curse of 
Ham. Their particular village, or dorp, is the true limit of their 
ambition, and of a general policy for the State they have little con- 
ception. Their fathers trekked from English government and 
everything else English into the wilderness, and they only want to 
be left alone in an exclusive solitude. The Outlander is convenient 
because he pays heavy taxes, out of which they obtain fine pickings 
in one way and another ; but his restlessness and his constant seeking 
for a voice in affairs is disquieting, and they would rather enjoy the 
unlimited coffee and tobacco on their own stoeps in the old way. 
The President voiced this exactly when, in reference to a request 
that the town lands of Pretoria should be declared a public goldfield, 
having been proved to contain rich reefs, he said they had "too many 
goldfields already, and would not have any more." 

The Cape Government. 

The Cape Colony Parliament at Cape Town presents a contrast 
to that at Pretoria. It is housed in a handsome building built thirteen 
years ago, at the reasonable cost of a quarter million pounds. It is 
pretty to see how, whilst adapting the procedure of the mother of 
Parliaments, the Colony has been careful to imitate the color of the 
cushioned benches in the House of Lords and Commons at West- 
minster, respectively. An Englishman feels quite at home with the 
red benches in the chamber of the Legislative Council, which in 
degree answers to his House of Lords, and with the green-cushioned 
benches in the House of Assembly. Here, however, all resemblance 
to the Palace at Westminster ceases. The councilors, not being 



THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 203 

hereditary, are not permitted, as in another place, to give themselves 
any airs and graces in the matter of stained glass windows or moulded 
ceilings. Except for the richer color of the leather cushions, the 
Legislative Council is not any better off than its neighbors at the 
other side of the lobby. Here again, by the way, is another point 
of resemblance between the Houses of Parliament at Westminster 
and Cape Town. Probably few members of either House of the 
British Parliament realize the fact that when the two Houses are in 
session, if all the doorways were thrown wide open the Lord Chan- 
cellor and the Speaker would find themselves seated vis-a-vis. The 
Woolsack at one end of the building is directly opposite the Speak- 
er's chair at the other. The subtle significance of this arrangement 
is equally cared for at the Cape. The chair of the President of the 
Legislative Council and that of the Speaker of the House of 
Assembly face each other. 

Plenty of Room. 

One thing that strikes the visitor to the Cape Parliament accus- 
tomed to the state of Affairs of Westminster is the liberality of the 
accommodation. In the House of Assembly there are loo seats, 
whilst the House when fully constituted consists of 76 members. 
In the Legislative Council the disparity between numbers and 
accommodation is greater still. The Council consists of 22 members, 
who have provided for their accommodation a chamber very much 
the same size as that allotted to the more numerous body. In the 
British House of Lords, Commoners looking in to hear the debate 
may find a few seats at their disposal in their gallery by the bar. If 
these are appropriated, they may find standing room in the pens on 
the floor behind the bar. If they are Privy Councilors, they may 
even stand on the steps of the Throne. In the Cape Parliament 
the haughty pride of the Upper House is curbed by the fact that 
members of the other Chamber listening to the debate are at liberty 
to seat themselves on red leather cushioned benches, identical in 
every respect with those on which the Councilors are seated, save 
that they stand below the bar. In other respects the leveling tend- 
ency of democracy prevails. The House of Lords at Westminster 



204 THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 

have a dining-room of their own, which they rarely use, and to which 
they sternly decHne to admit the hungry and overcrowded Commons. 
In the Cape Parliament the Upper House and the Lower House 
meet at a common dinner table. They have but one library between 
them, and but one billiard table. Here, it is true, they have the pull 
over the British legislator, who has none at all. 

The Sessions, 

Whilst all arrangements for providing dinners at the Cape Town 
Parliament House are up to date — even to the item of having the 
kitchen at the top of the building — there is not much call upon the 
commissariat department. This arises from the circumstances that 
the hours of business are less exacting than in England. The 
Houses meet five days a week at two o'clock, and rise at six. On 
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they resume the sitting at 
eight o'clock, and remain till a little after eleven, rarely later than a 
quarter past. As dinner is earlier at the Cape than in London, this 
arrangement permits of members dining at home, or at the hotels. 
Members of both Houses, in addition to traveling over the railway 
when going to and from Cape Town on legislative business, are paid. 
Those who live in or near Cape Town receive through the session 
twenty shillings a day. Those coming from a distance receive ^i, 
1 6s., the additional sum being designed to meet the charge of living 
away from home. In this connection there is an ingenuous arrange- 
ment which should not be forgotten if ever payment of members 
becomes a condition of English Parliamentary life. The session 
here lasts for a maximum period of ninety days. If members, by 
undue debate, choose to extend the period, no one can question 
their authority. Only, the pay stops after the ninetieth day, and 
members remaining in Cape Town to prolong the session do so at 

their own expense. 

Winter Session. 

The Parliamentary session is ordered with a view to the sittings 
being completed within the winter season. Another arrangement 
upon which those concerned for the progress of business at West- 
minster look with envious eyes is that for taking divisions. There is 



THE TRANSVAAL PARLIAMENT. 205 

no possibility for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes being 
wasted in peregrination of division lobbies. When a division is 
challenged, members on either side cross over, exchange places, and 
the clerks go round and tick them off. This is in obedience to the 
Speaker's injunction, "Ayes to the right, noes to the left." As the 
Ministerialists sit on the right of the Speaker and the Opposition, they 
remain seated should the former vote ''Aye" and the latter "No." 
This process, which occupies but a few minutes, is of course practi- 
cable only in an assembly where the principle of one seat one man pre- 
vails. In the British House of Commons, crowded as it is on the even- 
ing of a great division with an overflow of members, filling the side 
galleries and thronging the bar, the Cape custom would be impracti- 
cable. At Cape Town each member has his appointed seat. He 
selects it at the opening of the session, and, undisturbed, retains it 
till the prorogation. 

Westminster sartorial customs are observed in the cases of the 
Speaker of the House of Assembly and the President of the Legis- 
lative Council. Both wear wigs and gowns. Also the Sergeant-at- 
Arms in one House and the Usher of the Black Rod in the other 
wear knee breeches, black silk stockings, and a sword. There is a 
bar in both Houses, though here it is put to different use. In West- 
minster it was, at one time, pretty regularly brought to light in the 
House of Commons in order that Mr. Bradlaugh might stand at the 
other side of it, and claim his right to take his seat as the elected of 
Northampton. At the bar of the House of Commons personages 
charged with breach of privileges are arraigned. At Cape Town, 
whenever a division is called, the bar is drawn out to serve the 
prosaic purpose of preventing trespass by strangers. Both Houses 
of the Cape Parliament have a mace which, as at Westminster, lies 
on the table or is hung by its side, according as the House is or is 
not in Committee. What the Cape Town Upper House has unique 
possession of is a something that at first sight looks like a dock. It 
is a railed enclosure fixed outside the bar. It serves the purpose 
of a dock, inasmuch that members who have been adjudged guilty 
of disorderly conduct stand in it and make apology to the House. 



CHAPTER XV, 



The Famous Diamond Mines of Kimberley— A Unique Scene— Dis- 
covery of the Diamonds — View of the Mines— How they 
are Worked— '* Spreading the Blue"— Washing Out the 
Stones— Searching the Workers— In the Offices— 
Who Owned the Stone? 



N the story of the troubles between Boer and Briton in South 
Africa a prominent place must be given to the famous Kimberley 
diamond mines. For, in the first place, the diamond fields were 
once the property of Boers, as the names of several of the mines 
indicate. The property was bought by British prospectors for a 
mere trifle, and was developed into the richest mining region on the 
face of the globe. The wrath of the Boers at thus losing so rich 
a prize was indescribable and has never abated. For a quarter of a 
century they have brooded over it, and longed for revenge. In the 
next place it was the wealth derived from these mines that made 
Cecil Rhodes the powerful leader he has been for many years and 
that inspired him with the imperial ambition to make all of South 
Africa British from the Cape to the Zambezi. And in the third 
place, it was this discovery of enormous wealth on the old Boer 
farms at Kimberley that led English adventurers to look farther and 
to find and open up the wondrous gold mines of the Rand. 

A Unique Scene. 

Apart, however, from this, the mines are a singularly inter- 
esting place. There is nothing else like them in the world. The 
gold mines of the Rand are practically duplicated in Australia and 
California. But the Kimberley diamond mines, or fields, are unique. 
The name "fields" is very appropriately applied to them. There 
are literally fields of hundreds of acres covered with diamonds, as 
elsewhere they might be covered with beets or turnips. They lie 

(206) 



THE FAMOUS DIAMOND MINES OF KIMBERLEY. 20? 

only a few miles from the desolate waste of the Great Karoo, 
which for hundreds of miles is destitute of trees and shrubs, ex- 
cept along the occasional watercourses. For a short distance close 
around Kimberley are fertile plains. But when the mines are 
reached a scene of utter desolation is presented. There are hun- 
dreds of acres absolutely void of trees or grass or any living thing. 
They are gray, bare and barren. Yet they are the richest fields 
in the world, for they are thickly strewn with diamonds, and any one 
of the dull clods may contain a gem worth a king's ransom. 

Discovery of the Diamonds. 

The mines were discovered nearly thirty years ago by the find- 
ing of some diamonds in the surface soil. They were on three 
adjoining farms called Voornitziqt, Bultfontein and Dorstfontein ; 
these were the property of Boers, but were soon purchased by 
Englishmen for what seemed a handsome price, but was really a 
mere trifle in comparison with the wealth that has since been 
taken from the property. The name Voornitziqt is more easily de- 
fined than pronounced. It means simply a place commanding an 
extensive view. Bultfontein means a spring or fountain of water 
on a long low hill or " bult." Dorstfontein means literally thirst- 
fountain, that is, a spring at which the thirst is quenched. These 
three farms comprised in all about forty-five thousand acres, in 
which area are now included the diamond mines and part of the 
town of Kimberley. The name De Beers, given to one of the 
richest groups of mines, is that of the former Dutch owner of the 
Voornitziqt farm, and that of Dutoitspan is taken from that of the 
French Huguenot family of DuToit, which formerly owned Dorst- 
fontein. 

View of the Mines. 

The mines are open pits from three to five hundred feet in 
depth, though in some of them there are underground workings 
at much greater depths. The soil in which the gems are found is 
called by the miners "blue," from its color, and is, indeed, now 
known by that name even among scientific men. It seems to be a 
tough, dry mud of volcanic origin, sometimes hardened into actual 



2o8 THE FAMOUS DIAMOND MINES OF KIMBERLEY. 

Stone. It is drilled, blasted by dj'namite, drawn to the surface by a 
series of cars hung on rope railways, and then dumped on the 
depositing floors or fields, for so hard and tough is it that it requires 
from three to twelve months' exposure to the weather before it can 
finally be broken up, washed and sorted. 

How They Are Worked. 

If one descends to the bottom of one of the mines he will find 
hundreds, perhaps thousands, or more of negro workmen. They 
are all splendidly-built men, of pure negro blood. They drill the 
blasting holes with power drills, or sometimes with hand drills and 
sledge-hammers, under the orders of white superintendents. After 
the blast is fired they work out the loosened ground with pick and 
shovel, load it into trucks, and dump it on the fields. The scene is 
a weird and uncanny one. The noise of the pumping engines and 
the throbbing of the steam drills, the ringing blows of the hammers 
upon the hand drills, the rattle and roar of the iron trucks on the 
steel-rope railways, and the unearthly shouts of the negro workmen 
make a perfect pandemonium of noise. After a time a great bell 
sounds at the mouth of the mine, announcing that the day's work is 
done. All hands swarm out of the mine, the white men in cars and 
baskets, which are hoisted up, and the negroes up slender, hanging 
ladders. When all are out, the blast is fired. A tremendous series 
of explosions shakes the solid ground for miles around. The dia- 
mond-bearing blue flies into the air and falls cracking in great 
masses. Huge slices of the ricky walls of the mines fall in. At 
last all is still, and then another force of men go in for their day's 
work. Although most of the men leave the mines before the blasts 
are fired, a few sometimes remain in sheltered places. It is most 
dangerous to do so, and, indeed, the mines are, under all circum- 
stances, places of great peril. It is said that on the average a man 
is killed every day by the falling of masses of rick. 

'* Spreading the Blue." 

When the blue is raised from the mine it is carried out to the 
fields and spread about, making the most desolate looking place 



ft* 

ft 

n 

3 

N 

c 





bA 



THE FAMOUS DIAMOND MINES OF KIMBERLEY. 209 

imaginable. The fields cover about seven thousand acres and 
generally contain about a million truck-loads of blue. The average 
value of the blue is perhaps $5 a load, so that ^5,000,000 worth of 
diamonds are constantly lying on the fields. When the blue has 
been exposed to the weather long enough, the superintendent 
announces that it is ready for further work. Negro workmen then 
go at it with heavy picks and break the lumps up as finely as pos- 
sible. Then water, which is brought in pipes from the Vaal River, 
sixteen miles away, is plentifully applied by means of long hose 
similar to that used by fire companies. Then harrows and clod 
crushers are used, and then more water, and then heavy rollers, and 
so on until the blue is transformed into soft mud. Then it is loaded 
into trucks again and carried to the washing sheds. 

Washing out the Stones. 

Here it is raised by elevators to a height of fifteen or twenty 
feet and dumped into a series of sieves, which free it from stones 
and lumps. Next it goes into the washing machines, which are 
round, flat iron pans, in which revolve arms furnished with spikes to 
stir and churn the contents of the pan. Water is constantly poured 
into the pans and it carries off the worthless liquid mud. The resi- 
due is carted off for further treatment, to wit, about one per cent, of 
the total original mass of the blue. Even this small residue is 
presently reduced to one-third its bulk by being passed through a 
series of sieves working up and down in clean water. Here all 
substances much lighter than diamonds are thrown off. At last the 
precious remainder is brought in sieves and spread upon sorting 
tables. The work of sorting is conducted according to the individ- 
ual taste of the manager. Some managers will employ only Euro- 
peans of good character. Others employ boys. At least one 
employs none but negro convicts. These latter are said to do the 
best work of all. 

Searching the Workers. 

Much has been written about the rigid searching system to 
which all employes are subjected. There is, indeed, such a system, 



2IO THE FAMOUS DIAMOND MINES OF KIMBERLEY. 

but it is largely a mere form. The negro workmen in the mines 
wear no clothes at all when at work, but leave their garments out- 
side the mines, to resume them when their day's work is done. It 
is, therefore, manifestly almost impossible for them to steal and carry 
away any gems they might find. The white workmen are not 
searched at all. An attempt to do it was made in 1884, but led to 
serious riots and some bloodshed, and was promptly abandoned. 

The workmen stand in long lines at the sorting tables, each 
with a heap of dark, moist pebbles in front of him. Each has a 
small iron scraper in his hand with which he draws away from the 
pile a handful of the pebbles, spreads them out, turns them over, 
and spreads and turns them again and again, so as to expose to his 
view every individual bit of stone. Now and then he sees a dia- 
mond. He picks it up and drops it into a tin box with not half the 
concern a boy manifests when he picks up an angle worm and drops 
it into his bait box. When his work is done, he hands the box full 
of gems to the superintendent, who takes them to the manager, 
who weighs them and enters them in his register, and then seals 
them up and takes them to the company's appraiser in the diamond 
market, who in turn sorts and classifies them and hands them to 
brokers to sell. Thus the diamonds are found in three ways, or at 
three times. First in the claims, when the blue is broken up by 
blasting. Second, on the depositing floors after the blue has been 
exposed to the weather a sufficient time to break it up. And third, 
in the sorting after the blue has been washed. 

In the Offices. 

The offices of the company in Kimberley are no less interest- 
ing than the mines. In them one may see numerous little piles of 
what might be samples of coffee occupying shelves along the sides 
of the room. These are piles of uncut diamonds, worth hundreds 
of thousands of dollars, exposed as carelessly as though they were 
mere pebbles. In each little heap there is perhaps half a pint of 
them, and half a million dollars' worth may often be seen exposed at 
once in a modest little room. Comparatively few of them show to 
the unpracticed eye their real value. Some look like common 



THE FAMOUS DIAMOND MINES OF KIMBERLEY. 211 

pebbles, others like bits of glass, while some shine with brilliant 
lustre. The officials employed in these offices are, of course, paid 
good salaries. Many of them get $10,000 to $20,000 a year. There 
is really nothing, however, to prevent them from adding to their 
income by pocketing diamonds, excepting their sense of honesty 
and honor. It must be said that this sense is very highly cultivated. 
Thieving in the offices is of rare occurrence. 

Indeed, throughout the entire community the company's owner- 
ship of all diamonds is generally recognized. Years ago, before the 
consolidation of all the mines under the ownership of a single com- 
pany, people often picked up diamonds in the fields and by the road- 
sides, and unhesitatingly kept them as their own. Now, all honest 
people turn such treasure-trove over to the police, to be handed to 
the officers of the company. Indeed, it would be difficult for them 
to do otherwise. They could only dispose of such diamonds to the 
I. D. B., that is the Illicit Diamond Buyers. And to have any deal- 
ings with the I. D. B. is to make of one's self a social outlaw. 

Who Owned the Stone? 

Amusing complications sometimes arise from the habits of 
domestic fowls, which seem to possess an insatiable taste for dia- 
monds. In the early days of diamond digging, it was profitable and 
by no means uncommon enterprise to keep a number of fowls and 
let them run at large, for the sake of the diamonds which were sure 
to be found in their crops when they were killed. There is an 
entirely true story, which has become classic throughout South 
Africa, of a very fine diamond which was found in the crop of a 
pigeon. The question arose, who was the owner of it ? Was it the 
man who shot the pigeon, or the man on whose ground it was shot, 
or the housekeeper who bought the pigeon, or the cook who opened 
its crop and discovered the gem ? The controversy was carried on 
in an animated manner for a long time, and the opinion of almost 
every man in Cape Colony who was supposed to be an authority on 
such things was obtained. But the question was never satisfactorily 
settled. 



CHAPTER XVI 



Cecil Rhodes— Made by Diamonds— His Only Chance— Mr. Rhodes 

and General Gordon— Dealing with the Basutos— Making a Drf^am 

Come True — A Fitting Leader — The Jameson Raid — Never 

Caught Napping— In the Matoppo Hills — In the Savage 

Council— Talking with the Savages— A Daring Speech 

—The Making of Peace— A Conqueror— A Typical 

Empire Builder. 



ABOUT twenty-three years ago, or before the railway was built 
in South Africa, two Englishmen were riding on a cart to 
Kimberley. One was a young man of twenty-four, of delicate 
and studious appearance ; the other was middle-aged, with 
the face of one who had been in the wars. They w^ere strangers. 
For two days neither spoke. From sunrise to sunset the young 
man pored over the pages of a prayer-book. '' What are you read- 
ing ? " asked the older man, when his curiosity at last compelled him 
to speak. "The Thirty-nine Articles," came the brief reply, and the 
young man turned to his book again. Thus met two men whose 
names were afterwards to become widely known in connection with 
the country in which they were traveling. Sir Charles Warren was 
going out to suppress a rising of the Kaffirs, and the young stranger 
with his prayer-book was going back from Oxford to Kimberley for 
the *Tong vacation." His name was Cecil Rhodes. 

Made by Diamonds. 

It is hardly too much to say that Mr. Rhodes has been made by 
diamonds. Diamonds set him on his feet when, a sick and lonely 
youth, he found himself for the first time in Africa. He had left his 
father s rectory in Hertfordshire to gain strength in a new climate, 
and his prospect was not the brightest. It is not true that he ever 
gained his livelihood in the streets of Kimberley, as has been asserted ; 
but there was certainly a time when Mr. Rhodes and riches 

(ai2) 



CECIL RHODES, 21 3 

were as far asunder as the poles. That time was not for long, how- 
ever. Mr. Rhodes set foot in Africa a few years after diamonds had 
been discovered there, and it was not long before he staked all he 
had in a few claims. These he shared with his brother Herbert, who 
eventually relinquished his share and went up north, where, after an 
adventurous life as a hunter, he met with a tragic death. While his 
elder brother was hunting elephants, Cecil Rhodes was plodding 
away in the diamond fields. Many an old miner must remember the 
tall English lad sitting at a table near a quarry in Griqualand, in the 
early seventies, sorting his diamonds and superintending the work 
of his gang of Kaffirs ; but how many of them guessed that the 
destinies of a continent were bound up with that lad and the dia- 
monds on his table ! 

His Only Chance. 

Mr. Rhodes, as has been intimated, did not go out as a diamond 
seeker. His delicate health had so alarmed his father that he sought 
the advice of a specialist, who told the youth that his only chance of 
life was to go to South Africa. He was barely twenty when he left 
the rectory at Bishop Stortford, where he was born on July 5, 1853, 
and he was full of the enthusiasm of youth. While working hard 
for his living in Natal and in Griqualand, he managed to find time 
to pursue his studies, and even to go over to Oxford to spend part 
of each year at Oriel College, where he took his degree. It was 
when returning from Oxford on one of these occasions that he 
learned the Thirty-nine Articles for his next examination, surprising 
Sir Charles Warren by wrapping himself up in his prayer-book for 
two whole days on a carrier's cart. Nothing could be more unjust 
than to regard Mr. Rhodes as a mere gold-seeker. If he has sought 
to grow rich, he has sought riches not for his own aggrandizement 
so much as to enable him to carry on the work to which, rightly or 
wrongly, he has given his life. "That's my dream — all English," 
he observed, many years ago, moving his hand over a map of Africa 
up to the Zambezi, and it is for the realization of that dream of 
empire that he has sought wealth. When Gordon told him of the 
roomful of gold which the Chinese Government had offered him 



214 CECIL RHODES. 

after the suppression of the Tae-ping rebelHon, Mr. Rhodes ex- 
pressed surprise that he had refused it. "It is no use of our having 
big ideas," he said, ''if we have not got the money to carry them 
out." Mr. Rhodes has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in 
the work in which he is engaged, and has built railways, erected 
telegraphs, and suppressed rebellions, out of his own pocket, with 
as little to-do as the average man makes in buying his morning 
paper. 

Mr. Rhodes and General Gordon. 

General Gordon had a great admiration for Mr. Rhodes. One 
day, as the two were walking together in Basutoland, Mr. Rhodes 
chaffed Gordon with letting the natives take him as the big man, 
whereas the "big man" was really Mr. Sauer, the Cape Secretary 
for Native Affairs. " You ought to explain that he is somebody and 
you are nobody," said Mr. Rhodes, and at the next Indaba the Gen- 
eral stepped before the chiefs, and pointing to Mr. Sauer, said, 
''You are making a great mistake in treating me as the big man. 
That is the great man of the whites. I am only his servant, only 
his dog, nothing more." Mr. Rhodes was amazed that Gordon 
had taken it seriously, and when the Indaba was over, Gordon ex- 
plained that he had done it because he thought it was the right thing 
to do, though, he added, "It was hard, very hard." Gordon pleaded 
with Mr. Rhodes to stay in Basutoland and work with him. "There 
are very few men in the world to whom I would make such an offer 
— very few men, I can tell you. But, of course, you will have your 
own way." And again, when he set out for Khartoum on his fatal 
last journey, the merest coincidence kept Mr. Rhodes from accom- 
panying him. Gordon wired, asking him to go, and on the same 
morning Mr. Rhodes received an offer of a post in the Cape 
Ministry. But for that, he might have perished in Khartoum with 
Gordon — just as, but for a cold he caught while rowing at Oxford, 
which affected his lungs, he might never have gone out to Africa. 

Making a Dream Come True. 

Mr. Rhodes's "dream" seemed to be a dream and nothing 
more. The Boers were far more likely to get the land ; or thePor- 



CECIL RHODES. 215 

tuguese, who already claimed it ; or the Germans, who were laying 
hands on the Zanzibar coast. Memories of Rorke's Drift and 
Majuba Hill made further British conquests seem impracticable. 
But this was a dreamer who would undertake, with his own hands, 
to make his dream come true. He went at the task with complete 
faith, and in exactly the same way in which, on the basis of a single 
mine, he built up the great De Beers consolidation. He began 
with Cape Colony, thitherto a mass of jarring, warring factions ; 
showed English and Dutch, and all the rest, that their interests 
were identical ; made the whole colony united as one man, and him- 
self the unchallenged leader. Then he moved beyond the Orange 
River, and beyond the Kalahari Desert, and took up all the land. 
To do this readily he formed a second "John Company" on a pro- 
digious scale. The British South African Company was perhaps, 
in its composition, the most noteworthy of all those chartered com- 
panies which have been the advance agents of imperial dominion. 
Hostile critics have declared it was made up of ''Tory Jingoes 
and royal Dukes." Indeed, it had such in it. But it also had such 
men of light and leading as Thomas Huxley and Lord Kelvin and 
Professor Henry Drummond, and such ultra anti-Tories as Sir 
Charles Dilke and Mr. Conybeare, M. P., and Mr. Schnadhorst, 
the manager of the great Gladstone political ''machine." Tory 
squires and peers, Radical and Socialist politicians, Irish Home 
Rulers, all united under the puissant leadership of Cecil Rhodes to 
effect the realization of his dream. 

A Fittingr Leader. 

Nor could such an enterprise have had a more fitting leader. 
In mental and physical equipment he was equal to every requirement. 
He knew his Africa by personal experience as well as he knew his 
classics through Oxford training. He could " prospect " for gold or 
diamonds with the shrewdest. He could palaver with Kaffirs or 
Matabeles in their own barbarous tongue. He could treat with the 
Boers with all their own stolidity. He could lead a company of 
cavalry or riflemen with the valor and skill of a predestined con- 
queror. And he could do it all with the tact of a born diplomat and 



2l6 CECIL RHODES. 

the profitable thrift of a master financier. What wonder that he 
could hold a world's fair at Kimberley, build a railroad across the 
desolation of the Great Karroo, project a telegraph line from Cape 
Town to Alexandria, and make Tanganyika the northern boundary 
of Cape Colony ! 

The Jameson Raid. 

A few years ago some thought his sun was setting, down-stricken 
from the zenith. That was because of Jameson's raid into the 
Transvaal. Doubtless their judgment has now been reconsidered. 
How far he was responsible for that performance was a matter of 
dispute. On the face of the case there was one superlative reason 
for thinking he was not directly interested in it ; it failed. But it 
gave a new turn to his career ; more probably an upward than a 
downward one. His comment on Jameson's conviction and sentence 
was characteristic, one of those self-illuminative utterances of which 
only taciturn men of action are capable. *' What a tribute," he said, 
" to the moral worth of the nation that has 'jumped ' the world ! " In 
that one sentence stand revealed the man's detestation of shams and 
hypocrisy and his appreciation of that open and above-board aggress- 
iveness that has so often been the secret of British success. Again 
when timorous friends were begging him to be discreet, and foes 
were saying he dared not "face the music," he answered both, once 
and for all : "I am not going to lie about it ! " 

Other of his utterances were reckoned indiscreet, as calculated 
to arouse unnecessary antagonisms, Thus, he said he was about to 
be tried by the ''unctuous rectitude" of his fellow-countrymen; a 
phrase that will stick all the more surely because an Englishman 
coined it. So his sneering reference to Mr. Chamberlain, "Some 
great men cultivate orchids ! " seemed a foolish provocation. But 
John Bull loves a good fighter, so long as he fights fair, and it may 
be that these very defiances will only increase respect for the bold 
champion who flings them down. 

Never Caught Napping. 

Nor is he rash and heedless, after all, as note a certain episode. 
It was supposed that the trump card he had in reserve to confound 



CECIL RHODES. 217 

his enemies and vindicate his course toward the Transvaal was 
proof that the Pretoria Government had been intriguing with Germany 
in contravention of its obligations to England, and it was taught that 
he had in his possession some letters and other documents to that 
effect which the Boers would not like to have made public. 
There was trouble about that time with the Matabeles in the Matoppo 
Hills which his lieutenants could not settle. So up went Cecil 
Rhodes himself, walked straight into the hostile camp, squatted 
down in the chiefs kraal, and talked straightforward common-sense 
into the insurgents, and speedily induced them to quietly disband 
and return to ways of peace. But while he was on that mission his 
splendid country house of Groote Schuur, at Rondebosch, was 
destroyed by fire. How, who knows ? Some say an accident. Some 
darkly hint that those incriminating documents were supposed to be 
stored there, and that some Boer officials were uncommonly anxious 
for their destruction, and that therefore — Well, these suspicions 
were conveyed to Mr. Rhodes on his return ; whereupon he smiled 
grimly, and patted the black leather sides of a bag he had had with 
him all the time in the Matoppo Hills. 

In the Matoppo Hills. 

Mr. Rhodes' s trip to the Matoppo Hills, to stop short what 
threatened to be a tedious and costly war, was a most courageous 
performance. He took with him one Colenbrander, as an interpreter. 
Dr. Hans Sauer, and Capt. Stent, the correspondent. Two natives, 
John Grootboom and Makunga, accompanied the four white men. 
Three of the whites carried revolvers in their pockets. Mr. Rhodes 
carried nothing but a switch, a habit of his when in danger or under 
fire, which reminds one of the fatalism of his old friend Gordon, who 
in the Chinese war carried nothing but a cane. By a narrow gorge, 
through the granite hills, they made their way past kopjes and thick, 
bushy scrub that would have afforded excellent cover for an ambush. 

In the Savage Council. 

A Tiessenger from the Matabeles invited Rhodes and his com- 
panions to a great Indaba, or conference, in a secluded spot. 



2l8 CECIL RHODES. 

Rhodes at once resolved to go. They all knew the danger — none 
better than Mr. Rhodes, whose restless, nervous energy made him 
conscious of every detail of his surroundings. At last through the 
neck of a narrow gorge, their horses picked their way into a small 
amphitheatre, somewhat resembling a cirque in the Pyrenees, inclosed 
on all sides by lofty walls of granite rock, many hundreds of feet in 
height, and dominated by a huge granite kopje. The kopje and the 
heights were alive with armed Matabele warriors, whose heads 
peeped out, showing like black balls against the granite, from the 
shelter of the crevices and boulders, as they looked down on the 
little party of defenceless white men below. Mr Rhodes halted his 
horse in a mealie patch and dismounted. His companions followed 
his example. The decisive moment had come. Was it a stratagem 
of the savages to get the great white chief into their power, or was 
it in good faith that the invitation to the Indaba had been given ? 
Did the natives desire to lay their grievances before him whom they 
regarded as the king of the white men, or did they merely wish, by 
a ruse not unknown in savage warfare, to deprive the whites of their 
chief? The question was soon decided. The white men had not 
long dismounted when a white flag flashed from the kopje, and a 
long array of Matabele Indunas followed in single file, and, fixing the 
flag in the ground, sat down in a half-moon formation round the four 
white men. The natives were Indunas of age and weight in the 
nation. Nearly all wore on their heads the ring, the distinguishing 
mark of responsible warriors. 

Talkingr with the Savages. 

Mr. Rhodes, who sat some way up on the side of an ant-heap, 
greeted them in Zulu, ''You are well out of it." The Indunas re- 
sponded with the same good wish for the white chief and his Indunas. 
Then there was a long pause. Mr. Rhodes told Colenbrander to 
ask them to come to business. Colenbrander said: ''Tell your 
troubles to Rhodes, your father. He has come among you unarmed, 
with peace in his heart." Then first one Induna, and after him 
another, waxed eloquent with their complaints. The chief of these 
complaints was the misconduct of the native police. . . . Mr. 



CECIL RHODES. :2I9 

Rhodes then assured them that there were to be no more native 
police. 

A Daring Speech. 

At last Mr. Rhodes stopped their complaints by sternly advan- 
cing the most serious charge he had against them. " I am not angry 
with you for fighting us, but why did you kill our women and chil- 
dren ? For this you deserve no forgiveness." It was, as Mr. Coien- 
brander warned Mr. Rhodes, dangerous criticism in such a place — 
an unarmed white man boldly accusing the chiefs of the Matabele 
nation of their worst wrongdoing, while crowds of armed warriors 
looked on from the kopjes and boulders around, and the lifting of a 
hand would have brought them down like wolves on their prey. 
Then Mr. Rhodes, impatient at the long discussion of non-essentials, 
came to the point. ''All this is of the past," he said (Colenbrander 
translated for him throughout) ; " Now for the future. Is it peace 
or is it war ? " One of the Indunas at once took up a stick and held 
it above his head. Then, throwing it down at the feet of Mr. Rhodes, 
he cried, " See ! this is my gun ; I throw it down at your feet. This 
is my assegai," repeating the action ; and all the Indunas loudly 
assented. Then Mr. Rhodes explained the situation. The cattle 
were all dead. The time for sowing had come ; the rain was at 
hand. Let there be peace now, or they would have famine soon. 
To this argument he added the assurance, "I will remain with you 
in the land, and you can come to me with your troubles." This 
promise was received with applause. 

The Making of Peace. 

Then the Induna Somnavulu summed up: 'Tt is good, my 
father, you have trusted us, and we have spoken. We are all here 
to-day, and our voice is the voice of the nation. We are the mouths 
and ears of the people. We give you one word. It is peace. The 
war is over. Your road to Tuli is safe. Try it. We do not break 
our word. We have spoken." The council had lasted more than 
four hours, and the sun was slanting low on the kopjes when Mr. 
Rhodes, by rising, gave the sign that it was over. Then came 
another moment of suspense, not, indeed, to Mr. Rhodes, who felt 



2 20 CECIL RHODES. 

that he had won. The natives crowded in on the whites, entreating 
for tobacco, which was given them, and down from the kopjes well- 
armed young warriors began to stream into the amphitheatre. The 
horses stood close by, and Mr. Rhodes's horse had caught its feet in 
the reins. But, anxious not to break the spell by any hasty move- 
ment, he waited till his party were ready to start. Then, while the 
Indunas, with lifted right hands, shouted, "Farewell, Father and 
King ! " Mr. Rhodes turned his horse's head and made his way 
slowly back to camp, conscious that the big work he had set himself 
was done, that the Chartered Company was safe, and Rhodesia 
delivered. . . . The Indunas kept their word, and the Matabele 
loyalty is of more than feudal firmness. 

A Conqueror. 

It was at the end of December that he returned from the Mata- 
bele country. His progress from Durban to Kimberley and from 
Kimberleyto Cape Town was a triumphant march. At Cape Town 
itself he was received like a conquering hero, and was greeted by a 
great audience at the Drill Hall, where, to an accompaniment of 
thunder, lightning and hail, he made a great farewell speech. Des- 
perate efforts were made to get up "anti-Rhodes" demonstrations 
throughout the colony, but with little success. The English resi- 
dents were with him to a man, and so were the great majority of 
the Dutch, who form the major part of the population. It was 
made unmistakably clear that, whatever might be his reception and 
his fate in England, he was trusted, honored and admired in South 
Africa above all other men of the time. 

A Typical Empire Builder. 

The figure of the man is, indeed, an inspiring one, seen in con- 
temporary history or in actual presence. If you see him on horse- 
back, one of his favorites of all places, you see him riding like a 
centaur, erect and firm, save for an intent, forward inclination of the 
massive head. In his home or in society you see a stalwart, un- 
affected man, plainly but fastidiously garbed, quiet and courteous 
but masterful in manner. The face is that of a lion, or a bulldog, 



CECIL RHODES. 221 

or of a man whose will is a law unto himself and unto all about him. 
"Rhodes," said Charles Gordon to him one day, "you are one of 
those men who never approve anything unless it is of their own 
doing." "Yes," replied Rhodes, "I fancy that's true." It is true. 
But then this man has practically done everything he has had any- 
thing to do with. His brow is that of a scholar, his figure that of 
an athlete, his voice that of an orator. His blue eye reads you 
through and through, while his thin lips seem meant to shut in 
rather than to give forth what thoughts are in his mind. Power is 
the supreme characteristic, both physical and mental. Perhaps the 
spiritual is in abeyance, or is lacking. Spirituality was not a strik- 
ing trait of Drake, or Hastings or Clive. If this man errs in that 
respect, he errs in illustrious company, and not for a selfish motive. 
The British Empire in South Africa is the cause to which he gives 
himself Perhaps unconsciously, but none the less surely, it was 
the inspiration of his early Oxford studies and his health-seeking in 
Natal. The consciousness of it grew upon him when he began to 
grow rich at Kimberley and when he finished his course at Oriel. 
It reached full confirmation when he became the "Diamond King" 
and Prime Minister of Cape Colony. It is revealed to all the world, 
now that he has carried the British flag and advanced the British 
border-line a thousand miles through one of the richest countries on 
the globe. His dream is realized. 

On his last visit to Europe he was received with favor on nearly 
every side. He had several interviews with the German Emperor, 
who gave a dinner in his honor. He obtained from the German 
Government a franchise to build a railway and telegraph line through 
German territory in Africa. This was a long step toward carrying 
out one of his great dreams of a "Cape to Cairo" railway. In 
England, Oxford University honored Mr. Rhodes with the degree 
of D. C. L. His rehabilitation with the British public, therefore, 
seemed to have been well-nigh completed. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



The Cape to- Cairo Railroad Scheme— From CapeTown to Cairo— The 

Road now in Operation— The Next Stage— On the Lakes— The 

Final Stretch— Some Account of the Country— North of 

the Zambezi— In the Highlands— Lake Tanganyika. 



PEFERENCE has been made to Mr. Rhodes's great plan of a 
"Cape to Cairo" railroad, running lengthwise of the African 
continent. This stupendous plan seems entirely practicable, 
and will doubtless soon be put into execution. The "Cape 
to-Cairo " project has long been cherished by Mr. Rhodes, and it 
may be that, in the end, it will be the one of all his far-reaching plans 
and comprehensive projects which will be most permanently con- 
nected with his name. Whatever may be his limitations in other 
respects, Mr. Rhodes has the capacity for looking into the future. 
The notion of linking Northern and Southern Africa, by means of 
the locomotive, was promulgated by him years ago, when to most 
people it might have seemed too visionary for serious considera- 
tion — when the tract between the Zambezi and Lake Tanganyika 
was held by fierce bands of Arab slave-raiders, when the district 
north of the lake was unexplored desert, and when the whole Nile 
basin, right down to the outposts of Egypt, was under the yoke of 
the Mahdist tyranny. As for the last-named obstacle, Mr. Rhodes 
always made light of it. " When we get our railway to the Nile," 
he used to say, "we will deal with the Mahdi." Fortunately, Lord 
Kitchener has saved him the trouble, by "dealing" with the Khalifa 
in a highly effectual manner, and at the same time bringing the 
northern portion of the Trans-Continental line well on its way 
towards the equator. The Egyptian Railway system, which for 
years came to a sudden block at Wady Haifa, has been carried to 
Khartoum, and probably in a few months' time may find its tempo- 
rary terminus at Sabot. Thence, as occasion offers, and finances 

(222) 



THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILROAD SCHEME. 223 

permit, It will be prolonged further and further southward, passing 
the now historic Fashoda, and Lado, and Dufile, until at length it 
reaches the shores of the Victoria Nyanza, and a junction can be 
effected with the Uganda Railway coming up from the Indian 
Ocean, and with Mr. Rhodes's line, which may by that time be able 
to join hands with it from the south. 

From Cape Town to Cairo. 

It need hardly be said that, when we speak of the Cape to 
Cairo "railway," we use only a convenient and picturesque phrase. 
For some time to come, the Cape to Cairo ''route" would be a 
more accurate description of the proposed line of communication 
than that which is commonly employed. Eventually, no doubt, the 
traveler will be able to step into his train of sleeping and dining 
cars at Cape Town, and will not be disturbed until he alights in the 
capital of Egypt. But long before this consummation is reached 
there will be a safe and easy, though not uninterrupted, mode of 
transit throughout the length of the African continent by several 
lines of railway, connected by steamers on the internal waterways. 
The road will be built by sections, and for the sake of economy 
those portions of the route on which facilities exist for water trans- 
port will be left to the last. The railway will come up to the 
southern end of Lake Tanganyika, and at the point of contact 
steamers will be available to convey passengers and goods to the 
northern extremity of this great inland sea. From Tanganyika 
there will be another length of line to the Victoria Nyanza or the 
Albert Edward Nyanza ; and from these lakes the navigable w^aters 
of the Nile will be available, at least in part, until the southward 
extension of the Soudan Railway shall be reached. In fact, the 
'' Cape to Cairo " line will not be, as is sometimes supposed, a 
uniform new system, driven for several thousands of miles through 
a territory still virgin of the locomotive, like the Russian Trans- 
Asiatic Railway ; it Is rather in the nature of a series of compara- 
tively short sections of road, joining existing means of communica- 
tion, improving others, and making use of the marine engine as 
well as the railway line. In time, of course, the steamer will be 



2 24 THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 

entirely dispensed with by those who desire a quick passage through 
the Dark Continent. The metals will run along the shores of Tan- 
ganyika, the Nyanza Lakes, and the Nile, and duplicate or super- 
sede the slower transport facilities offered by the waterways. But 
this is for the future. 

The Road Now in Operation. 

At present, and as a going concern, the Cape to Cairo Railway 
is represented, in an actual and official shape, by the property of the 
Bechuanaland Railway Company, Limited. The Cape Government 
line carries the traveler from the shores of Table Bay, past Kimber- 
ley, the city of diamonds, to Vryburg in British Bechuanaland. The 
Bechuanaland Railway Company was Incorporated five years ago, 
with Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Beit, Mr. Rochefort Maguire and Mr. Thomas 
Shiels as directors, to prolong the connection, through the British 
Protectorate, into Matabeleland to Bulawayo. and thence "towards 
the River Zambezi." As a matter of fact, the line has now passed 
Bulawayo, and the Rhodesian capital was reached on the 19th of 
October, 1897, and was formally opened by the High Commissioner, 
with much eclat, and a great gathering of South African notabilities, 
in the following month. Since that date there has been steady and 
regular communication between the coast, Mafeking, Palapye, 
Khama's old capital, and Bulawayo. The distance traversed Is thir- 
teen hundred and fifty-three miles — seven hundred and seventy-four 
over the Cape Government system, and the remaining five hundred 
and seventy-nine over that of the Bechuanaland Company. 

The Next Stage. 

The latter is now preparing for Its next advance, which is first 
to the Zambezi, and then to Abercorn, at the southern end of the 
Lake Tanganyika. The extension has already been christened by 
Mr. Rhodes, who has a happy knack in the matter of nomenclature, 
the Bulawayo and Tanganyika Line. The length of this line, if tne 
Zambezi is crossed a little to the west of Zomba, would be about 
eight hundred miles, or two thousand one hundred and fifty In all 
from the Cape ; the cost Is roughly estimated at two million pounds 




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THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 225 

Sterling, but this amount is subject to revision after the completion 
of the survey. The line will be constructed in three instalments. 
A considerable part of the route of the first of these has already 
been surveyed, and it is known that no great difficulties will be 
experienced in construction. This first section, through Central 
Mashonaland, will tap a country now ascertained to be rich in gold, 
and, what is perhaps of more value, to contain coal also. The dis- 
trict traversed by the second section has lately been examined by 
Sir Charles Metcalfe, who reports that the country between Gwelo 
and the Zambezi is fairly healthy, and that it gives indications of gold 
and other minerals. The third portion of the proposed extension 
— that beyond the Zambezi — will open up a fertile cattle district, 
well populated by tribes who have been delivered from the tyranny 
of the slave raiders, and have come into contact with the British 
officials, and the Sikh police, of the Nyassaland or British Central 
African Protectorate. It is a country admirably suited for the col- 
lection and cultivation of rubber, and many other valuable tropical 
products. A branch line would give access to the flourishing Scotch 
settlements, coffee and tea plantations, and missionary stations of 
Blantyre and the Nyassa highlands, at present only to be reached 
by a tedious voyage to the mouth of the Zambezi, and thence up 
the Shire River. 

On the Lakes. 

Once Tanganyika is touched^ it is, in a double sense, plain sail- 
ing for a time. From the British railway and British territory at 
Abercorn, the passenger will be transferred to a steamer flying the 
Union Jack, and having all the rights of a ship on the high seas 
under those colors. Unfortunately these satisfactory conditions 
cease when Tanganyika is left behind. The English sphere of 
influence is entered again, less than two hundred miles to the north, 
when the southern limits of Unganda are reached ; but the inter- 
vening space is politically beyond British control. By the Anglo- 
German Agreement ot July, 1890, a wedge of German territory 
was allowed to be driven between the Nyanza Lakes and Tangan- 
yika, right up to the boundary of the Congo Free State. Conse- 

15 



2 26 THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 

quently the "Red Line " through Africa is here blocked. To Ger- 
many the territory was, and is, of small value for commercicJ, or 
indeed any other purpose. Emin Pacha's diaries give a forbidding 
account of the climate and character of this region, in which the 
explorer passed some painful months during his last unfortunate 
expedition. It may be that the latest Anglo German Agreement, 
the terms of which are not yet known, provides for a cession of a 
strip of this territory, so as to enable the projected railway to reach 
the head waters of the Nile without touching the dominions of any 
European power. If this cannot be managed England may have to 
fall back upon the expedient of procuring the "lease" of a slice of 
desert, on the other side of the boundary line, from the Congo 
Free State. 

The Final Stretch. 

German East Africa having been traversed, or left on one side, 
territory under British control, more or less, is again entered, 
whether the traveler steams across Lake Victoria to Uganda, or 
sweeps round the snowy summits of Ruwenzori into Unyoro. The 
latest news from this region shows that the natives are not alto- 
gether pacified or reconciled to the British presence ; but Indian 
troops are in the country, and the process of completely establish- 
ing British ascendancy, both in Uganda and Unyoro, will now be 
undertaken in earnest, and is not likely to be a lengthy operation. 
Once clear of these semi-independent districts, the old Khedivial 
dominions are reached, and the traveler will find himself under the 
direct administration of a civilized Government. Equatoria will 
speedily becom.e as orderl) and as prosperous as Lower Egypt and 
Nubia have been made, under the direction of the Civil Service 
which Lord Cromer has organized; and long before the whistles of 
Mr. Rhodes's pilot engines have startled the rocks and mud-fiats of 
the Nile, we may expect that Wadelai will present all the features 
of a British frontier post in Oriental lands. An officers' club, a 
hotel, a billiard table, a Black regiment, and a supply of familiar 
mineral waters, will cause the bosom of the Englishman hailing from 
the shores of the Southern Ocean, to swell within him, and remind 



THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 2 2/ 

him how far the Pax Britannica extends. By that time the Trans- 
African telegraph will also have become an accomplished fact. This, 
the second of Mr. Rhodes's great enterprises, is not to wait for the 
tardier advent of the railway ; and already his agents are being 
dispatched to survey the Nyanza-Tanganyika country with a view to 
planting the poles and wires, which will do almost as much as the 
iron road and the ''fire-horse" to unveil the obscurest recesses of 
the Dark Continent before the penetrating glare of Western 
civilization. 

Some Account of the Country. 

The country through which it is proposed to carry the trans- 
continental line has been generally surveyed as far as the south 
end of Lake Tanganyika. It divides itself naturally for purposes 
of description into the country south and north of the Zambezi. 
From Bulawayo to the Zambezi is a distance of 400 miles. The 
first 100 miles will be through the gold area connecting Bulawayo 
with Gwelo, and will give the advantage of cheap transport to 
the mines. Some of the most important of these will lie on either 
side of the projected line. From Gwelo the railway will proceed 
for almost 100 miles slightly to the west of north, through a pro- 
mising mineral area where old workings for surface gold are found 
along the entire route. From the edge of the Mafungabusi dis- 
trict it will continue for 50 miles into a coal area of wide extent, 
from which there are substantial hopes of obtaining a fuel supply 
for the whole of Southern Rhodesia. Beyond Mafungabusi, in a 
northerly direction, the outcrop of gold reefs comes to an end, 
and there follow about 70 miles of level coal area giving promise 
of coal beds undisturbed by the upheavals of igneous rock which 
in other coal areas of South Africa have tended so often to render 
the coal semi-bituminous and practically useless for commercial pur- 
poses. From the Mafungabusi district to the Zambezi the country is 
generally level until within twenty miles of the river, when it becomes 
broken, and there is a rapid, but, from the engineering point of view, 
easily manageable descent to the water level at a point where the 
Zambezi can be crossed on a bridge of about a quarter of a mile 



2 28 THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 

in length. The country in the valley of the river is very fertile 
and thickly populated in all those parts from which the inhabi- 
tants have not been driven away by local raids. It is well watered 
and easy of irrigation, the banks of the river being generally low, 
and most forms of local produce yield two and three crops in the 
year. From the Victoria Falls to the point near the Portuguese 
frontier, at which it is proposed to carry the railway across the 
river, there is a distance of about 500 miles, the whole forming an 
extremely rich and populous lateral valley in which, with due pro- 
tection from slave and cattle raiders, prosperous agricultural set- 
tlement might be expected rapidly to establish itself. The native 
population is at present generally naked, but shows a readiness 
to adopt the European custom of clothes, which promises well for 
the future capacities of the country as a market for British trade. 

North of the Zambezi. 

From the Zambezi on the northern side the proposed course of 
the railway rises gradually from 1,500 feet to about 5,000 feet or 
6,000 feet, which is the extreme elevation of a plateau dominating 
the valley of the Loangwa River and running about midway between 
Lake Nyasa and Lake Bangweolo, to Lake Tanganyika. Nearly 
halfway, 220 miles north of the Zambezi, at a point where latitude 
13° cuts the Machinga Mountains, there is a small lake variously 
known by native and English names, but marked upon the railway 
map as Lake Cheroma, which forms the headwaters of the Luswasi, 
a tributary of the Loangwa. Here, at an altitude of 5,000 feet above 
the sea, on a healthy and open plateau, suitable for rearing cattle 
and for agricultural operations, it is proposed to form a head sta- 
tion for the railway. The country lying between this point and 
the Zambezi is generally fertile. The railway will follow the high 
ground skirting the Loangwa valley on the west. The gradients 
are good all the way from the Zambezi, and, though there is broken 
ground to the east and west of the track selected, there is fairly 
level running along the higher plateau. The country generally 
along the railway track is covered with grass well watered and 
suitable for cattle. The broken ground has been partially ex- 



THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 2^9 

plored for gold, and gives good indications at a place called Che- 
penje's, and again to the south of Mpsenis to the east of the pro- 
posed track and more than loo miles north of the Zambezi. The 
Loangwa valley is very fertile. The river, with its tributaries, flows 
through rich, black earth. The valleys are thickly studded with 
native villages, and crops of beans, peas, maize, and rice are com- 
monly raised. The tobacco crops are also unusually fine. Wild 
cotton, used by the natives for weaving a rough cloth, grows freely 
over the country stretching from the Loangwa for lOO miles east. 
The natives dye the cloth red or black, and use it for clothes. Three 
kinds of native rubber are also found wild in the country spreading 
east from the Loangwa valley. 

In the Highlands. 

East of the valley of the Loangwa, and before reaching the Boa 
River, lies the Angoni country. This district, which has an elevation 
of about 3,000 feet above the sea, is thickly populated. It is fertile, 
well watered, and, besides being a good agricultural country, is also 
very suitable for cattle, sheep and goats. Horse-sickness is unknown, 
and at Fort Patrick, the chief station of the British South Africa 
Company in this neighborhood, the horses which have been intro- 
duced are doing very well. The climate is described by Europeans 
who have visited it as being better than that of Blantyre and Zomba. 
The Luswasi or Cheromia Lake, upon the shores of which it is pro- 
posed to place the head station of this section of the railroad, is 
situated on a high level of the Machinga Mountains. It is about 
eight miles square, with clear, good water, and natives are settled 
all around it. The Luswasi River, which is about thirty miles long, 
drains the lake into the Loangwa, which from this point to the Zam- 
bezi has no falls, but is broken by rapids that would render steam 
navigation difficult, if not impossible. The climate of the Loangwa 
district generally is held to be healthier than that of the Shire high- 
lands and lowlands. The Loangwa valley itself is very hot for about 
two months in the year. The rains last for about three months — 
December, January and February — and it is only during this period 
that malarial fever is to be dreaded by Europeans. There is plenty 



230 THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 

of cheap native labor available throughout the district for the making 
of the railroad, and the cost of construction over this section of the 
line would be favorably affected by the cheap rate at which the natives 
willingly hire themselves for work. The native labor rate of Africa 
might almost be regulated by degrees of latitude. At Kimberley, 
in the diamond mines, the price paid for native labor is ^5 a month ; 
at Johannesburg, in the gold mines, £\ to ^5 a month ; in Southern 
Rhodesia ^3 to ^4 is the rate for the mines ; and north of the Zam- 
bezi a teeming population is eager to find employment at six shillings 
a month. The construction of the railway tapping these labor fields 
will evidently tend to equalize the rates. 

The section of 280 miles lying between the head station of the 
Luswasi and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika will follow easy 
country on high, grassy levels averaging 5,000 feet above the sea, 
very suitable for cattle and fairly well populated with blacks till 
within about 20 or 30 miles of Lake Tanganyika. Here there is a 
rapid fall of about 2,000 feet or 100 feet to the mile. At Tangan- 
yika the native black population gives place to Arabs, whose custom 
it has been to raid the southern country for slaves. Of the popu- 
lations passed through in the 500 miles lying between the Zambezi 
and Tanganyika, only one has the character of a warlike race. This 
is the Avemba, whose country is situated about 120 miles north of 
the Lusw^asi or Cheroma Lake, at the point at which the i ith parallel 
of latitude cuts the 31st degree of longitude. The remaining popu- 
lations vary in degrees of civilization, some possessing the simple 
arts of agriculture only, others showing themselves able to work in 
iron and in gold filigree, to weave, and dye cloth, to plait straw, to 
carve ivory, and to make the coarser kinds of pottery. They gen- 
erally show a capacity for learning European trades, and, under the 
teaching of missionaries or others, become expert in carpentering, 
building, and similar occupations. Throughout the course of the rail- 
road south of Lake Tanganyika there are from time to time promising 
mineral indications, and the country of the lowlands is compared to 
the rich territories of Brazil, and of the northern part of the Argen- 
tine that lie in nearly corresponding latitudes in South America. 



THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY SCHEME. 2^1 

Lake Tanganyika. 

Lake Tanganyika measures about 400 miles from north to 
south. At the south end of the lake it is proposed that a steam- 
boat service shall take up the chain of communication and form the 
next link of 400 miles. From the south end of Tanganyika to the 
southern tongue of Uganda on one and a half degrees latitude and 
thirty degrees longitude, the territory through which communica- 
tions must pass, is no longer British. Rights of way have, how- 
ever, been provided for, and if a time should come when it should 
be considered desirable to continue unbroken railway communica- 
tion from south to north it is probable diat no insuperable obstacles 
to the execution of the project would be encountered. Under the 
present scheme it is proposed to continue the railway from the 
north end of Lake Tanganyika for another 450 miles to a point 
which is yet undecided in Uganda territory, so as to strike the navi- 
gable head waters of the Nile Valey and presumably the head of 
the Uganda railway running into Mengo, the capital of Uganda, 
from the east coast. This section has not yet been traveled over 
by engineers in the employment of the Trans-continental Railway 
Company, but the country is to some extent known from other 
sources. It is believed to lie at an elevation of about 4,000 feet 
above the sea, and to be generally rich in tropical products, need- 
ing above all things the cessation of slave raiding and the pacifica- 
tion of local strife in order to develop its agricultural possibilities. 
The immense importance of the construction of a through line of 
transport in superseding slavery is too obvious to be insisted on. 
The Anti-Slavery Conference, at Brussels, recognized ten years ago 
that no means so efficacious for the suppression of slavery could be 
employed as the construction of railways through the areas which 
at present serve as the sources of slave supply. 

When the navigable head waters of the Nile Valley have been 
reached, the trans-continental work of the Bechuanaland Railway 
Company will be accomplished. It is estimated that if the work 
be now proceeded with, section by section, without delay, the whole 
might be finished to the south end of Tanganyika in five years. 



CHAPTER XVm. 



The Story of Khartoum— The Time of Change— The Rise of the Mahdl 
—The Soudan in the Mahdi's Hands— The Mahdi Comes to Khar- 
toum—The Siege of Khartoum— The Effect of Abu Klea— The Death 
of Gordon— The Death of the Mahdi— The Rule of the Khalifa— 
The End of it Ail— Adowa— Kassala— The Victory at Firket— Up 
to the Atbara— The Atbara Campaign— The Night March— 
The Battle of the Atbara— The Final Advance on Khartoum 
—The Concentrating Point— The Shabluka Cataract— The 
Sirdar's Calculations— The Battle of Omdurman, Sep- 
tember 2, 1898— With Sword and Spear and Banner 
as of Old— The First Attack— The Second Dervish 
Attack— The Final Advance — The Sirdar Enters 
Omdurman— In Memory of Gordon. 



THE story of South Africa would be incomplete without some 
further mention of the greatest episode in the modern history 
of North Africa. The Cape-to-Cairo railroad has been made 
possible only by the redemption of the Nile valley and the 
Egy^ptian Soudan from savagery, and this latter was done through 
the martyrdom— and the avenging — of Cecil Rhodes's friend and 
colaborer, Charles Gordon. 

Neither Khartoum nor its Dervish equivalent, Omdurman, across 
the Nile, is a place merely of yesterday. It is probable that Khar 
toum, from its advantageous position at the angle of junction^of the 
Blue Nile from Abyssinia and the White Nile from Central Africa 
and the Equatorial Lakes, has been a town of commercial import- 
ance and military strength for centuries, while Omdurman must for 
as long have been the complement and appanage of Khartoum on 
the opposite side of the river, its station of approach by the northern 
desert ways, and the head of the necessary ferry. Omdurman must 
always have been a neighbor and suburb of Khartoum, as South- 
wark has always been of London. Yet British interest in Khartoum 

(232) 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 233 

goes little farther back than twenty years, when General Gordon 
was installed there as Governor-General of the Soudan. 

The Time of Change. 

Then Khartoum was a busy town of forty thousand or fifty thou- 
sand inhabitants — the heart through which throbbed all the life and 
trade of the Soudan, trade in grain and gum, spices and ivory, 
feathers and slaves — especially slaves. It was to control, and finally 
to extinguish, that last detestable and inhuman traffic, that Gordon 
took ofifice under the Khedive of Egypt. Ismail, who had an im- 
plicit faith in Gordon, and an unquestioning admiration of his nota- 
ble qualities, was turned out by the Bondholders and the Dual 
Control, however, and there arose a Khedive who knew not Gordon 
nor approved his ways. Gordon was hampered in all his acts, and 
his passionate desire for the extinction of the slave trade was balked 
by such capable and powerful men as Zubeir Pasha. He threw up 
his post in disgust, in 1879, and was succeeded by Rauf Pasha, one 
of the most corrupt and cowardly scoundrels of Turkish officialdom. 
That was the turning point in the modern history of Khartoum. 
Had Gordon stuck, in spite of vexation and opposition, to the task 
he had undertaken, the last twenty years of Soudan history would 
in all likelihood have been quite another tale. There would have 
been no Mahdist empire, none of the unutterable horrors of savagery, 
fanaticism, and vice which have made the Soudan a desert, and no 
need for its reconquest and reclamation. Gordon himself soon 
doubted if he had done well and wisely in resigning; but ''it was 
written " that he should resign, and he did. 

The Rise of the Mahdi. 

When Gordon re-entered Khartoum in February, 1884, it was, 
so to say, in quite another pair of shoes. He came to save it from 
the victorious Mahdi el Muntazer. Mohammed Ahmed, the self- 
styled Mahdi, "he that should come" — the promised Moslem Mes- 
siah who should purify religion and set the feet of the faithful again 
in the right way — became first known to Soudan fame in 1881. He 
had been brought up from his youth as a religious ascetic. He was 



2 34 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

a handsome man, of tolerable learning for a Moslem, of considera- 
ble eloquence, and of great ambition and astuteness. Beginning as 
a religious reformer merely, his success among the superstitious, 
sensual and impulsive Soudanese Arabs became so great that he 
began to preach preparation for the Jehad, or Holy War, to drive 
out the Turks and Egyptians. With a band of disciples he retired 
for awhile to Jebel Gedir, in the south of Kordofan, to consolidate 
his influence. He craftily renamed the mountain "Jebel Masa," 
because it is written "from Jebel Masa shall the Mahdi come." 
Then he set himself to fulfil the prophecy. He had won over a 
party in El Obeid, the central town of Kordofan, and he marched 
thither, issuing proclamations and preaching as he went, and win- 
ning the adherence of the savage tribesmen with promises of the 
joys of Paradise, and of what was quite as much to the taste of the 
Soudanese Moslems, plenty of plunder and female slaves, if they 
joined him in the Holy War. In his first attack on El Obeid he was 
terribly repulsed, for with much political craft he had no tincture of 
military aptitude. Had his repulse been pushed home with energy 
his power might then have been annihilated, and his reputation in 
the world have been no more than that of the Mad Mullah of the 
Indian frontier. Even later, when he had taken El Obeid, he might 
have been allowed to "stew in his own juice" of superstition and 
sensuality ; for he had no means for undertaking great expeditions, 
and his followers, though brave and strong, were without horses or 
camels, and without weapons, save sword and spear. But in 1883 
his surprise and annihilation of the ill-considered expedition of Hicks 
Pasha made him the possessor of camels and horses, rifles and guns, 
and ammunition. And then he was the virtual master of the Soudan. 

The Soudan in the Mahdi's Hands. 

Tribe after tribe flocked to the Mahdi's standard, greeting him 
as a miraculous and divine deliverer and leader. With the destruc- 
tion of Hicks Pasha's army there was nothing but surrender for the 
Egyptian Government officials in the Kordofan, Darfur, and Bahr- 
el-Ghazal provinces. The Austrian Slatin Bey, after protracted 
fighting in Darfur, finding himself reduced to the support of several 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. ^35 

hundred men, short of food and short of ammunition, made a virtue 
of necessity and sent his surrender to Abdullahi, the Mahdi's chief 
Khahfa or Heutenant, whom he knew as a Darfurian. To save 
himself and those with him he took the oath of allegiance to the 
Mahdi, with no intention of keeping it longer than he could help. 
In Bahr-el-Ghazal the English Lupton Bey did the like. Meanwhile, 
in the Eastern Soudan, between the Nile and the Red Sea, Osmun 
Digna and the local Arabs had been busy. In January, 1884, they 
had destroyed Baker Pasha's force at El Teb, and they threatened 
Suakin. And thus the whole of the Soudan, from El Fasher in the 
West to Suakin in the East, and from Metemmeh in the North to 
Fashoda in the South, had fallen into the hands of the Mahdi — all 
save Berber and Khartoum. That was the situation when Gordon 
set foot again in Khartoum after an absence of about five years ; 
and he took some time to realize it fully. For six months after his 
arrival he wrote in his journal : "It is most dispiriting to be in this 
position . . . when I think that, when I left, no man could lift his 
hand or foot in the Soudan without me, and now we cannot calculate 
on our existence for twenty-four hours." By that time he had been 
three months cut off from communication with Egypt, for Berber 
had fallen. 

The Mahdi Comes to Khartoum. 

Khartoum and Omdurman fort had been loosely invested for 
some time, but the Mahdi lingered near El Obeid till the end of 
August. Having come into unlooked-for wealth he indulged him- 
self in all the sorts of luxury that tempt an Arab. He cast aside, 
in private, his asceticism, and became a glutton and a sensualist, 
while in public he still appeared the holy man of God, and preached, 
and wept, and prayed with as great eloquence, unction and frequency 
as before. And, with their master's example before them, his 
Khalifas and Emirs did the like. The Mahdi had expected that 
Khartoum would have fallen without his presence, but when it did 
not he raised his camp (which was not merely a camp, but a whole 
population, such as Moses led to the Promised Land), and moved 
against the insolent and rebellious place. It was well on in October 



236 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

when Gordon, spying with his glass from the roof of the Governor's 
house, and turning his gaze to the North, over the palm trees of 
Khartoum and over the full Nile, saw a great commotion about Om- 
durman, strings of camels and clouds of flying horsemen, and heard 
the roll of the great war-drum, "The Victorious," of the Khalifa 
Abdullahi, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Mahdi's forces, 
and the melancholy boom of the ombeiyas, or war-horns, of the chiefs. 

The Siegre of Khartoum. 

Next day Gordon found the siege more vigorously and more 
numerously pressed, and he saw that the Mahdists had established 
themselves in trenches in the five hundred yards' space between 
Omdurman fort and the river, whence neither the fire from Khar- 
toum nor from the fort could drive them. From that day until the 
end he showed the greatest intrepidity and resource in his defense 
of Khartoum, despite treachery within and subtle and cruel fanaticism 
without, despite the hopelessness of his position, and the hunger 
and dejection of his soldiers. How he strengthened the inade- 
quately fortified wall on the south, or land, side of Khartoum with 
mines and barbed wire, how he made money and medals to sustain 
the spirits and the hopes of the defenders, and how he himself was 
incessantly cheerful and alert — all that is an old and familiar story 
of heroism which the British will never forget. Of course, he made 
mistakes — who does not? Yet the mistake to be most deeply 
deplored was his misunderstanding of Slatin and other Europeans 
with the Mahdi. Slatin had taken pains to communicate with him 
from the Mahdi's camp, and had offered to come to his help if he 
would aid him in one small particular of escape. Gordon was 
offended with Slatin, and took no notice of the communication. But 
is was discovered by the Mahdi, and Slatin was put in chains. It 
was a pity ; for Gordon much needed a faithful and skilled European 
officer to aid him. 

The Effect of Abu Klea. 

For three months the siege was maintained with the utmost 
determination. Gordon's only occasion of rest was on the Moham- 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 237 

medan Sabbath, when the doomed city around him lay in silence. 
Even then he could not rest, for the incessant din from the Mahdist 
camp, with its five services of preaching- and prayer, with the sadden- 
ing boom of the ombeiyas ever throbbing in the dry air, and the 
fanatic yells of the people when the Mahdi el Muntazer appeared. 
Meanwhile, the belated British relief expedition was toiling up the 
Nile and across the Bayuda desert. Gordon heard of it, and sus- 
tained the sinking hopes and courage of his men with the promise of 
its coming. But the Mahdi also had heard of it, and his Emirs drew 
the siege more closely about Khartoum. Then came news of the 
terrible Dervish defeat by the British square at Abu Klea, which 
was heard by the Mahdi with amazement. One cannot tell whether 
Gordon received the glad news, for his journal ends on January 14 ; 
but he could not fail to guess that a great disaster had befallen the 
Mahdists from the weeping and wailing of women which rolled over 
to him from the camp for hours. The Omdurman fort had surren- 
dered several days before the news came of the defeat in the desert. 
Yet the Mahdi was so confident of his ability to take Khartoum that 
he detached none of the released Omdurman force to aid in the 
siege. But when, a day or two later, word came of the second and 
third defeats of the Dervishes at Abu Kru and Gubat, and finally 
word of the white strangers having arrived at Metummeh, then the 
besiegers fell back from Khartoum in doubt and dismay. Had the 
British advance guard, or the merest handful of it, as an earnest of 
the rest, but pushed up the river from Metummeh at once, they 
would have found the siege raised : for that we have the word of 
Slatin, who was in the Mahdi' s camp at the time. Day after day 
passed, however, and no one came. Then the Mahdi and his Emirs 
declared to their people that the British, having heard of their num- 
bers and their might, and how God and his Mahdi were with them, 
had fled to their own land in fear. That was enough for the simple, 
savage Soudanese, who returned to the siege with new vigor. 

The Death of Gordon. 

On Sunday night, the 25th of January, 1885, the siege was 
pressed home. The Mahdi and his Khalifas after dark crossed 



238 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

over in a boat from Omdurman to encourage their warriors. The 
Mahdi having instructed that he should be received by his people 
in silence instead of with the usual acclamations, harangued his 
silent host on the glories of Jehad and the joys of Paradise, and 
then recrossed the river to be out of the melee. At the first hint of 
dawn the besiegers, who by that time knew every spot in the line of 
defense and every disposition of the defenders, made a great show 
of noisy attack in the open front, while a chosen force effected an 
entry by the broken parapet and filled the ditch which they had noted 
at the western end of the defense, and which the falline Nile had 
disclosed more and more. At that point the defense was weak, and 
when the defenders saw the fierce Dervishes plunging through the 
river-mud they fled — and Khartoum was taken. The tale of massa- 
cre is too sickening to tell, even did space permit the recital. But 
Gordon was killed with a sudden spear-thrust on the top of the divan 
steps. His head was cut oft' and his body mangled and mutilated. 
The chained Slatin was waiting in the Mahdi's camp in an agony of 
suspense for the issue of the attack which he knew was being made. 
The red sun had little more than leaped above the horizon when he 
noted a movement of the throng opening and streaming towards 
his tent, and heard the sound of women weeping. "The slaves," 
says he, " approached my tent, and stood before me with insulting 
gestures. Shatta undid the cloth and showed me the head of Gen- 
eral Gordon. . . . His blue eyes were half opened, the mouth 
was perfectly natural, the hair of his head and his short whiskers 
were almost white. 'Is not this the head of your uncle, the unbe- 
liever ? ' said Shatta. ' What of it ? ' said I, quietly. ' A brave sol- 
dier who fell at his post. Happy is he to have fallen. His suffer- 
ings are over.' ' Ha, ha ! ' said Shatta. ' So you still praise the 
unbeliever ; but you will soon see.' " 

The Death of the Mahdi. 

The Mahdi did not long survive his Christian antagonist. But 
what a contrast in their deaths ! Gordon was the true saint and 
ascetic, the Christian soldier. Starved almost to a skeleton, but 
with a smile of gladness on his face, he met his fate, a martyr to his 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 239 

conceptions of honor and duty, to his love for humanity, and to his 
affection for those who were faithful with him. The Mahdi, on the 
other hand, flaunted the pretentious make-believes of these virtues, 
and died a bloated mass of fraud. Intoxicated with success, he, his 
Khalifas and Emirs, gave themselves up to all manner of luxury and 
licentiousness. One of their luxuries was cruelty, and they com- 
mitted on the helpless and terrified inhabitants of Khartoum ex- 
cesses and tortures too horrible to name. And even then a voice 
was raised in the British House of Commons appealing for appre- 
ciation of the Mahdi as a high-souled patriot, fighting for the free- 
dom of his Fatherland. Less than six months after Gordon's 
slaughter, the Mahdi, horribly diseased from his excesses, died a 
most revolting death from typhus fever — not in Khartoum, but in 
Omdurman, for the ruined Khartoum was all abandoned, save the 
few Government workshops. 

The Rule of the Khalifa. ^ 

Still the atrocious tyranny he had instituted was continued by 
his appointed successor, the Khalifa Abdullahi, who was, if anything, 
more cruel and less capable than his master. For his own security 
he set himself with patient and subtle craft to destroy all the friends 
and relations of the Mahdi. He neglected and insulted the Ashraf, 
or "nobles" — that is to say, those who were of the Mahdi's kindred 
— and then, when they were at length stung to revolt, he fell on 
them and made short work of them ; for their weapons were bad 
and out of repair, and so was their courage. He took action, too, 
with the tribes who had been most active in their support of the 
Mahdi — as the Barabra, Jaalin, Kenana, and others of the Nile val- 
ley ; and to reduce them to poverty and impotence he invited from 
Kordofan his own great tribe, the Baggaras, or cattle owners, and 
planted them round Omdurman and in the Gezirah, the rich tongue 
of land to the south of Khartoum between the two Niles. But 
before they could be well planted they had to be fed, and they were 
fed, whoever starved. They grew insolent and idle, and domineered 
over and plundered the other tribes, because they were of the 
Khalifa's kindred. With idleness, dissoluteness, massacre of the 



240 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

country people, and utter recklessness and ignorance in the regula- 
tion of trade, it is not surprising that there came, in 1889, a terrible 
famine, which was so absolute that the people of Omdurman died 
like flies at the end of summer, and many of those who survived — 
who were chiefly the better-nurtured Baggaras — were reduced to 
cooking the leather thongs of their augarebs, or bedsteads, and many 
others became cannibals. That was in Omdurman itself, while in 
the country round whole tribes completely died out and whole 
provinces lay waste and uninhabited. To such a pass had Mahdism 
brought the unhappy Soudan. ' 

The End of It All. 

It was not only smallpox and famine that destroyed the people, 
but more insidious and slow disease. The loose example of the 
Khalifas and Emirs had not been lost on the tribesmen, nor even 
on the slaves, with the result that Omdurman was given over to the 
lowest and most destroying kind of debaucheries. In addition, the 
sword and the rope of the executioner were never idle. And when- 
ever the melancholy boom of the ombeiya was heard through the 
streets, signifying that the Khalifa was riding abroad, the people 
would run out of their huts and houses, crying, "It is an execution !" 
so well known was the Khalifa's fondness for exhibitions of cruelty. 
Slatin Pasha, who knew the Khalifa well, and who studied the 
monster closely and anxiously during twelve years of captivity, 
declared that nothing gave him more delight than to witness the 
perpetration of torture. Thus, when no man's life was worth an 
hour's purchase, what wonder is there that people like Soudanese, 
fatalistic creatures of the air and the sunshine, should abandon them- 
selves to the extremest recklessness of existence, and say, in effect, 
to each other : *' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 

Adowa. 

February 29, 1896, the fatal day of Adowa, when the Italians 
suffered their terrible reverse at the hands of the Abyssinians, was 
the real date on which the movement for the reconquest of the 
Soudan may be said to have begun. It was a blow which might 



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THE STORY OF KHARTOUM, 24 1 

have entailed a Dervish advance on Kassala, and so have given a 
fresh impulse to the Khalifa's now long quiet armies. 

Kassala. 

Kassala had fallen into the hands of the Mahdists years before, 
and was taken from them by the Italians. Slatin, who was at Om- 
durman at the time, has told us how the news of its loss was received 
by the Khalifa : '' The ombeiya (the great ivory trumpet) was sounded, 
the great war-drums were beaten, the horses were saddled, and the 
Khalifa, accompanied by all his men, solemnly rode down to the 
banks of the Nile. Arrived there, he forced his horse into the river 
until the water reached its knees. Drawing his sword and pointing 
to the East he shouted : 'Allahu akbar !' (God is most great), and 
the cry was taken up by the immense crowd." All this, however, 
was mere sound and fury, signifying nothing. Not long before the 
Dervishes had inflicted a great defeat on the Abyssinians and slain 
their king, King John ; but now they had another European foe to 
deal with besides the English. The Khalifa, however, announced 
that Kassala was merely a minor position, and that in a short time 
he intended to retake it, as well as the entire country up to the Red 
Sea. But he well knew that his capital was now more exposed than 
ever to an attack. Kassala remained secure in Italian hands until, 
on Christmas day, 1897, it was transferred to the Khalifa's most 
deadly enemy. The Egyptian flag, under the protectorate of Great 
Britain, was raised on the fortress of Kassala. It was the be^inninof 
of the end for the Khalifa and Mahdism. 

At midnight on March 12, 1896, Sir Herbert Kitchener received 
by telegraph from London the orders to prepare for an advance up 
the Nile. On the 14th the reserves were called out, and on the 15th 
the first troops left for the front, Akasheh was to be occupied and 
the railway line to that point, destroyed by Mahdist raids, was to be 
relaid. Nearly the whole effective force of the Egyptian army was 
concentrated at Akasheh, the garrison at Wady Haifa being set free 
by the ist North Staffordshire Regiment from Cairo, and the Egyp- 
tian troops from Suakin went by sea to Kosseir on the Red Sea 
coast and marched across the desert to Keneh on the Nile. Before 

j6 



242 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

active operations commenced, the news came that Osman Digna was 
once more at his old work near Suakin, but after some fighting, in 
v/hich he was worsted, he retired, and the collapse of his raid left the 
Sirdar free to go on with the campaign on the Nile. 

The Victory at Firket. 

Eighteen miles from Akasheh up the river was the Dervish 
camp at Firket. On the night of June 6, 1896, the Sirdar moved out 
to the attack. His plan resembled that adopted by Wolseley at Tel- 
el-Kebir, a night march and a surprise at dawn. The Sirdar divided 
his army. One division he led himself by the route near the river 
the other, under Major Burn-Murdoch, advanced over the desert. 
The march was well-timed and well carried out. The Sirdar's army 
burst upon the Dervish camp and village, and, after a sharp fight, 
drove out the Dervish army with great loss. Hammuda, their prin- 
cipal Emir, was slain, and recognized on the battlefield by Slatin. 
The results of this battle, as enumerated by one of the war corre- 
spondents who was present, was that fifty miles of the Nile valley 
had been cleared of the enemy ; that all doubts of the fighting qual- 
ities of the new Egyptian army were dissipated ; that the only organ- 
ized army of the Khalifa near the Nile frontier was destroyed, and 
that Suarda, which had been for years the starting-place of cruel 
Dervish raids on the Nile villages, had become the advanced post of 
the Sirdar's army. Finally, on both sides the moral effect was very 
great. It was the first time the new Egyptian army had taken the 
initiative in any fighting in the Nile valley ; it had challenged a trial 
of strength, and struck the first blow. The battle of Firket decided 
the fate of Dongola, which fell an easy prey in September. ''The 
result of these operations," said the Sirdar in his dispatch, " has been 
to completely stop the constant Dervish raids between Assouan and 
Wady Haifa, to add 450 miles of the Nile valley to Egyptian terri- 
tory, 300 miles of which may be described as of great fertility, and to 
relieve, to their intense delight, the large and suffering population 
of Dongola from the barbarous and tyrannical rule of savage and 
fanatical Baggaras." In November of 1896 the Sirdar was in Lon- 
don, and was asked whether the Khalifa's power was broken. He 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 243 

replied : "It Is quite a mistake to suppose so." The outworks of the 
Mahdist power were taken, but the citadel remained intact. Next 
year, 1897, there was to be a fresh advance on the citadel. How 
was it to be made ? The Sirdar knew, and he set to work to carry 
out his plans — the construction of the railway from Wady Haifa across 
the desert, cutting off the great bend of the Nile, to Abu Hamed. 

Up to the Atbara. 

It was hardly expected, by the general public at least, that the 
capture of Abu Hamed would involve also the capture of the great 
and Important town of Berber and Its communications with Suakin 
and the Red Sea, but such was the case. Once at Abu Hamed, as 
they soon were, the gunboats had Berber at their mercy, and not 
Berber only, but Metemmeh, and eventually Khartoum and Omdur- 
man. Berber fell without a blow, and immediately steps were 
taken to open up the desert route, so long closed, to Suakin, and to 
establish an advanced post higher up the river at the junction of the 
i\tbara River and the Nile. With the advanced post of the 
Egyptian army actually on the Abyssinian tributary of the Nile, It 
seemed now as though at last the doom of Khartoum was at hand. 
All that vast length of the great river from Wady Haifa to the 
Atbara was now securely won back for Egypt — so quickly, so easily, 
that it seemed scarcely possible that there could ever have been a 
Mahdist invasion of Egypt which had actually penetrated behind 
Wady Haifa. And now there were powerful gunboats far up 
beyond Dongola, beyond Abu Hamed, beyond even Berber. In 
October of 1897, Metemmeh — that sad name In the annals of 
Soudan wars, the place on the river to which Sir Herbert Stewart's 
exhausted desert column had fought its way over the Bayuda desert, 
where Gordon's steamers had joined it, and from which Sir Charles 
Wilson set forth in two of the little vessels to return with the 
terrible news of the tragedy of 1885 — Metemmeh was bombarded 
by the Nile flotilla. Commanded by English officers, the three gun- 
boats steaming in column of line ahead, engaged the Dervish forts 
and obtained proof of the presence of Emir Mahmoud and a strong 
Dervish force. 



2 44 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

The Atbara Campaign. 

The question as to whether the Emir Mahmoud would wait for 
the Sirdar or advance to attack him did not remain long unanswered. 
On the last day of 1897 there came a sudden request from the front 
for reinforcements. The fact that the Sirdar asked for a brigade of 
British troops made it certain that the need was pressing. The 
three regiments in Egypt — the Camerons, Warwicks, and Lincolns, 
— were ordered up, and the Seaforth Highlanders came later. By 
rail and by steamer, and by every available means of transport, 
there was a rapid concentration at the Atbara camp. Gunboats 
reconnoitered the river up to Shendy ; the line of communication 
between Berber and the Atbara was especially looked to. It was 
known that a Mahdist army was on the march northwards for the 
purpose of reconquering Berber. News continually arrived there 
of the forward movement of the enemy. "The climax of popular 
anxiety and feeling was reached," says one of the correspondents, 
"when ' fighting' Macdonald's brigade of the Soudanese set out for 
the front. Men and women shouted to them not to return until 
they had burned Omdurman and killed the Khalifa and all his Der- 
vishes. The Sirdar also received an ovation from the natives when- 
ever he showed himself. Then came word that Mahmoud, with the 
picked of the Mahdist army, had crossed the Atbara and had taken 
his whole army from El Aliab, on the Nile, some thirty miles above 
the confluence of the Nile and the Atbara, straight across the 
desert, eastwards to Nakheila, on the Atbara, a distance of thirty- 
five miles, in a single day. There, at Nakheila, Mahmoud intrenched 
himself. The Sirdar moved up the Atbara to Ras-el-Hudi, ten miles 
from the confluence of the stream, and there camped." 

The Night March. 

At the beginning of April, the Anglo-Egyptian army began to 
draw nearer and, on April 7th, the final advance was made by night, 
in the now familiar manner which had been "invented" by Wolseley 
at Tel-el-Kebir, and successfully imitated at Firket. "When dark- 
ness had quite fallen all that could be seen was the shadowy outline 
of the particular square one happened to be with, or the cold 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 245 

shimmer of the bayonets of the next. There was a heavy muffled 
sound through the night that did not carry far, as of thousands of 
feet tramping slowly, the weird potency of a dimly seen, silent, 
armed force." With halts for rest, and a little sleep, the army thus 
silently advanced on the enemy in the dead of night. At 1.15 on 
Good Friday morning the troops were quietly roused and ordered 
to fall in. "Throughout the march there was little or no calling of 
words of command. The men were told what to do by signs, such 
as a wave of the hand, or, if spoken to, it was in conversational 
tones that the orders were passed by the officers along the ranks." 

The Battle of the Atbara. 

By 4 o'clock in the morning the Sirdar s force was within 
striking distance of Mahmoud's intrenchment, and with the first 
streak of dawn the Dervishes could be seen standing on the earth- 
works watching the movement of the Sirdar's force. At 6.15 the 
artillery opened fire upon the Dervish works, and a storm of shot 
and shell was poured upon and into them by Maxims and field-guns. 
Shortly before 8 o'clock the order was given for the assault. The 
bugles sounded the general advance and, with bands playing, drums 
beating, pipes skirling, the Highlanders, Englishmen, Soudanese and 
Egyptians went straight at the intrenchments, and engaged in fierce 
hand-to-hand fight with the Mahdist warriors. Captains Findlay and 
Urquhart, of the Camerons, fell at the palisade, the latter crying, as 
his men picked him up : " Never mind me, my lads. Get on, Com- 
pany F !" From an inner zeriba held by 2000 of Mahmoud's best 
men came a heavy fire. It was attacked by the nth Soudanese, 
who lost 100 men in killed and wounded, but was soon carried by 
storm. Right through the intrenchment and out to the Atbara bank 
on the other side swept the Sirdar s furious attack. The battle of 
the Atbara was won. It had taken the Sirdar's men twenty-five min- 
utes to sweep Mahmoud's force off the face of the earth. 

The Final Advance on Khartoum. 

After the battle of the Atbara on Good Friday, in which the 
Dervish advance on Berber was crushed, there came the usual and 



246 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

expected interval in recent Soudan campaigning when the Nile Is 
low. But at the front, though little or no news came through, there 
was no cessation of activity in consolidating and the perfecting of 
the means of transport. The rail — that greatest of all instruments 
in the " smashing of the Mahdi " — was pushed on through Berber 
to the confluence of the Nile and the Atbara, and everything was 
done to prepare for the concentration of the army on Khartoum, 
when the time should come for the final advance. 

The Concentratingr Point. 

Meantime the Egyptian portion of the army was already con- 
centrating at the rendezvous at Wad Habeshi at the end of the 
Shabluka Cataract. The Dervishes who formed the advance gfuard 

o 

of the Mahdist army were reported to be some fifteen miles further 
south. At the beginning of August, while the rail was pouring into 
the Atbara terminus its endless supplies of men and munitions, an 
interesting march was being successfully carried out over ground 
which was once traversed under very different conditions. At Wad 
Hamed, on x^ugust 23, Sir Herbert Kitchener held a parade of 
nearly his whole army in the desert. The ground, says an eye- 
witness, was as level as a billiard table. The line advanced in attack 
formation with a front of 4,000 yards. Viewed from the rising 
ground well in front of the advancing line the sight was magnificent. 

The Shabluka Cataract. 

The following day the Egyptians under General Hunter left 
for the head of the Shabluka Cataract, which was the next point of 
general concentration, forty-one miles from Omdurman, the gun- 
boats and cavalry having reconnoitered to that point and found that 
the Mahdist outposts had been withdrawn. Thus the anticipated 
resistance to the passage of the cataract at a point where trouble 
had been expected was abandoned. The gunboats were able to 
push through the defile without opposition, and to find themselves 
at the southern end of it with clear water straight up to Omdurman 
and Khartoum. 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 247 

The Sirdar's Calculations. 

The Sirdar had said that he hoped to have concentrated his army 
at Wad Habeshi at the south end of the Shabluka Cataract on Au- 
gust 22. On that date the concentration was, in fact, accompHshed. 
He also calculated upon occupying Omdurman in the middle of Sep- 
tember — -a false calculation, as it turned out, but not one to find fault 
with. There then at Wad Habeshi, on the appointed day, the 
avenging force of 27,000 men was rapidly and safely concentrated. 
A week later the whole force was at Wad-el-Obeid, twenty-eight 
miles from Kerreri, where it was thought the Khalifa would make 
a stand for the defence of Omdurman, with at least a part of the 
army. This expectation was not realized, and the Sirdar was able 
to bring his whole army within striking distance of Omdurman 
without having been attacked. 

The Battle of Omdurman. 

Finally, on September 4, the news came through to London of 
a great victory, the full account of which was published in the 
morning papers of the 5th. The Sirdar's official account, sent off 
on Friday, the 2d, gave the mere military facts, and ran as follows : 
"The Dervishes left us undisturbed last (Thursday, the ist) 
night, but early this (Friday) morning our scouts reported their 
entire army advancing against us. We received their bold and 
determined attack in position, and after an hour's fighting, during 
which they endeavored to envelop both our fianks, we drove them 
off about 6.30 A. M. I began to advance against Omdurman, but 
had not gone far before I was heavily attacked on the right. This 
necessitated a change of front, and the Dervishes were again driven 
ofT with heavy loss, and their army, which was under the personal 
command of the Khalifa, was completely dispersed by noon. The 
force watered at Khor Skambat (or Shamba), and at 2 p. m. again 
advanced on Omdurman, which was occupied with slight resistance 
during the afternoon. The Khalifa, who had re-entered the town 
after the battle, fled as we got in, and is now being pursued by 
cavalry and gunboats. Neufeld and some 1 50 prisoners have been 
released and are with us. Omdurman is an enormous place, and 



248 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

the entire force is now encamped on the desert to the west of the 
town. I am unable to give at present complete casualty returns, 
but I regret to say that Lieutenant R. Grenfell, 12th Lancers, and 
Captain Caldecott, ist Battalion Warwickshire Regiment, were 
killed, besides several other officers wounded. Think the British 
casualties will be about 100. The 21st Lancers lost heavily in the 
charge in which Lieutenant Grenfell fell, their casualties being 21 
killed and 20 wounded. 

With Sword and Spear and Banner as of Old. 

The Khalifa did not await the Sirdar's attack behind his great 
stone wall and the outlying defenses of Omdurman. The result 
would probably have been the same had he done so, but it would 
have been attained with far greater loss of life to the attacking 
force. Untaught by past experience gained in many a hard-fought 
field since that day in 1884, when Sir Gerald Graham's little British 
army avenged Baker's disaster at El Teb and Tamai, the Mahdist 
host trusted to their old method of fighting — the reckless, headlong 
rush with sword and spear, with banners fiying, and the war-cry of 
'' Alluha Akhbar " (God is most great), and " Rasul Allah el Mahdi" 
(the Mahdi is God's prophet) on their lips. Twice in the day did 
they adopt these simple, and fatal, tactics, advancing to the attack, 
as the eye-witnesses tell us, like sea waves crested with foam, and 
with a roar from their masses as though from a surf-beaten shore. 

The First Attack. 

When, at 6.30 in the morning, the Dervishes were seen advanc- 
ing to the attack, the batteries opened on them at a range of 2700 
yards with shrapnel and common shell. Under a tremendous fire 
they continued to advance till within 1600 yards, and then they tried 
to rush the batteries. But now they came under the fire of the 
infantry, and a range of 300 yards marked their nearest approach 
to the front of the British brigades. Finding closer quarters impos- 
sible, the main body moved across the front, leaving their riflemen 
under such cover as they could find to reply to the fire. Captain 
Caldecott, of the V\\arwickshlres, was among the first to fall, and 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 249 

Colonel Frank Rhodes was wounded. The black banner of the 
Khalifa was planted within looo yards of the British line, and 
formed a rallying point for the gallant fanatics who vainly endeav- 
ored to face the awful hail of shot and shell and the steady volleys 
which mowed them down in whole battalions. 

The Second Dervish Attack. 

Roused to renewed fury by the onward movement of the Sir- 
dar's army the Dervish masses again gathered for the attack. They 
fell upon General Macdonald's battalions with a headlong courage 
even greater than before. The Sirdar sent back the ist British 
Brigade to meet this fresh attack, but not before the courage of the 
dark battalions had been severely tested. Along the whole of Mac- 
donald's front they stood firm and held their ground without a sign 
of wavering, even when the rush was fiercest. "Seen from a dis- 
tance the enemy looked like one long ridge of flashing swords, so 
thick was the mass of armed men. Before them rode two or three 
thousand horsemen, well mounted and armed with spears. The 
horsemen meant to try to break through the dark line in front and 
divert our fire, so as to give the Dervish infantry an opening. Gal- 
loping forward in loose, open order, they drew nearer and nearer 
the zone of our fire. Closer and yet closer they rode towards the 
thin, black line. A sudden hush fell upon the valley. A thrill of 
sombre admiration pulsed through our ranks. In a few moments 
the intense silence was broken. The enemy's nearest horsemen, 
still riding gallantly, got within 200 yards of us. Then a section of 
Macdonald's line opened fire. Two of the Baggara horsemen were 
seen to reel and fall from their saddles. A riderless horse came at 
a trot towards our firing line. Still the enemy's cavalry rode on 
undismayed. Again a flash from our rifles and a stream of bullets. 
Half a dozen of the Baggara bit the dust. Saddle after saddle was 
emptied, until not a score of the Khalifa's horsemen rode on. One 
horseman, mounted on a magnificent bay, more fortunate than his 
fellows, rode within thirty yards of our line before he, too, fell. The 
Dervish cavalry was annihilated. The field was strewn with corpses ; 
by the side of many the horses were seen placidly grazing." 



250 THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 

The Final Advance. 

Unable to approach the British front, and cowed by the fearful 
slaughter which had been meted out to them, the Mahdists gave up 
the attempt. "A more extraordinary sight was never beheld," says 
one of the correspondents, "than the Sirdar's final march into 
Omdurman with the beaten enemy moving sullenly beside us for the 
greater part of the distance. Their pace was hardly appreciably 
slackened by the continuous fire of our guns. The Dervish spirit 
was broken ; they made no reply, and as soon as possible sought a 
screen in the hills. The scene presented in Omdurman will live in 
the memor)^ of every man who was present. Omdurman might well 
have been called the City of Death, for corpses of men and beasts 
strewed the ground in all directions. The stench was unbearable, 
and it was decided to camp outside the city." 

The Sirdar Enters Omdurman. 

While fighting was still going on with the disheartened remains 
of the Dervish army to the west, the Sirdar and his stafT entered 
the town. The people had just seen the dreaded Khalifa pass by in 
headlong flight, and they threw themselves upon the ground before 
the conqueror. Accompanying him was borne the captured black 
fiag of the tyrant. 

In Memory of Gordon. 

That night the whole army slept exhausted on the bare ground 
outside the loathsome charnel-house of Omdurman, over which rose 
as an emblem of ruin the shattered dome of the Mahdi's tomb. 
On the Sunday following the hero of 1885 was not forgotten by the 
heroes of 1898. Beneath the ruined palace where Gordon was 
killed were guards of honor from all the British regiments and 
from the i ith Soudanese battalion. The Sirdar and staff, of course, 
were present, and an immense crowd of natives looked on. Slowly 
on the roof of the palace — that very roof towards which Sir Charles 
Wilson anxiously looked from the little steamer on January 28, 
1885, and "saw no flag" — now rose the Union Jack, while the 
bands below played the National anthem. With it rose into the 



THE STORY OF KHARTOUM. 2^t 

air the flag of the Khedive of Egypt. Next, nineteen guns fired 
in salute to the memory of the dead man, and then a brief service 
was held. The Dead March in Saul was played by the British 
band, and another funeral march by the Egyptians. The Presby- 
terian chaplain then prayed and read a few lines from the Bible ; the 
Church of England chaplain said the Lord's prayer, and the Roman 
Catholic chaplain offered a special prayer asking for Divine blessings 
on the reconquered province. The Highland pipers, with muffled 
drums, then played a coronach, and afterwards the Soudanese bugles 
and band played Gordon's favorite hymn, "Abide with me." Fi- 
nally, three hearty cheers were given for the Queen-Empress, whom 
the hero and those who had avenged his murder had served so well. 
Thus the Soudan wakes up as from a horrible nightmare of 
years, a nightmare that has been all too real. Omdurman is taken 
and Mahdism is practically extinct. It has been one of the most 
terrible experiences mankind has ever endured on the earth. It has 
been as if the pit had opened and there had ensued an eruption of 
all forms of demoniac, wanton and cruel destruction of man and 
beast, crop and tree. It has been an experience which the Soudan- 
ese will relate with bated breath to their children's children. But it 
has ceased. Gordon is avenged, and the tens of thousands of 
massacred creatures are avenged, and with gentle tenderness the 
fertile, far Soudan will be won to civilization. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



The Great Chartered Companies— Origin of the Matabeles — First 

Steps toward Colonization — The South Africa Company — 

Trouble with Lobengula— The Shangani Patrol— '* Men 

of Men They Were"— Fall of the Native Power— 

The Last Struggle — Railroad Building 

—Up to the Lakes. 



WE must now deal with the rise of some great Chartered 
Companies as pioneers of trade, of mineral, agricultural 
and pastoral development, and of the expansion of the Brit- 
ish Empire. There have been many such companies in 
African history, associations Portuguese, English, British, Dutch, 
French, Austrian, German, and Anglo-German, from the days of 
Queen Elizabeth to the latter period of Queen Victoria's reign. No 
company has surpassed, in importance of achievement, the famous 
British South Africa Company, chartered by the Crown in October, 
1889, with Mr. Cecil Rhodes, its originator and guiding spirit, as 
managing director. The chief sphere of the company's operations 
was to be " the region of South Africa lying north of British Bech- 
uanaland, and north and west of the South African Republic." 
In 1 891 the powers of the charter were extended to the north of 
the Zambezi, with the exception of Nyassaland. The capital, one 
million sterling, mostly derived from subscribing shareholders, could 
be applied to the making and maintenance of roads, railways, tele- 
graphs, and other necessary works, and the clearing, planting, irri- 
gation and tillage of lands ; and the company had power to make con- 
cessions for mining, timber-cutting and other industries, and to grant 
lands on various conditions. Reports were to be annually made to 
the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who had a general controlling 
power over the political and administrative operations. We must 
now look into the previous history of the territories in the company's 

1252) 



THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 253 

sphere, comprising Matabeleland, Mashonaland and Northern Zam- 
bezla, the whole being styled '' Rhodesia," a term first officially used 
in a proclamation of the company, dated May ist, 1895. 

Origin of the Matabeles. 

Moselekatse, the commander of a division of the Zulu army in 
the days of Chaka, and a man renowned among the Zulus and be- 
loved by his soldiers as a shedder of human blood, was forced to 
flee, about 181 7, from the wrath of his master, enraged by the res- 
ervation of certain spoil obtained in warfare. The warrior and his 
followers crossed into territory now belonging to the South African 
Republic, and there a new military state was founded. Thus arose 
the Matabele people, not a homogeneous tribe, but a body of 
soldiers. The people found in their new home were exterminated, 
with the exception of the best looking women ; the young men were 
employed first as slaves and then as army recruits. There may have 
been ten thousand warriors as the nucleus of the new power who 
settled down in military "kraals" of the Zulu style, and slew and 
plundered Bechuanas in all directions. We have seen Moselekatse's 
fighting men in unsuccessful conflict with the Basutos at Thaba 
Bosigo, and also how they were driven out to the north, about 
twenty years after the first migration by the Boers of the ''great 
trek" from Cape Colony. Their new habitation was known as Ma- 
tabeleland. Mashonaland, to the east of Matabeleland proper, is 
inhabited by people not physically or morally strong, lowered in 
character by Matabele tyranny, but good at tillage and native handi- 
crafts. At the time when the South African Company was formed 
most of the territory of Matabeleland and Mashonaland was subject 
to Lobengula, son of Moselekatse, and the strongest native chief- 
tain south of the Zambezi, as the possessor of a great, disciplined 
army of warriors. 

First Steps towards Colonization. 

It was a German writer in the Berlin Geographical Journal, 
Ernst von Weber, who first, in 1880, drew attention to Matabele- 
land as a suitable scene of colonization. Sir Bartle Frere there- 



2 54 THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 

Upon urged the extension of the British ''sphere of influence" as 
far as the Zambezi. The Boers of the Transvaal were also known 
to be hankering after expansion of their territory in the same direc- 
tion, north of the Limpopo River. Not only were there rumors of 
rich gold mines in the territory, but in 1870 an English company 
had been formed for working an auriferous district in the south-w^est 
of Matabeleland. Travelers and sportsmen gave most favorable 
accounts of the climate and of the character of Mashonaland for 
European settlement and tillage. Lobengula had a hereditary feel- 
ing of friendship for the British, with whom his father, Moselekatse, 
had concluded a treaty in 1836, and when the Portuguese, awaking 
from the drowsiness of a lengthy past, also began to put in claims to 
Matabeleland, the British Government sent an agent to Lobengula 
at his kraal, or capital, Bulawayo. This negotiator, the Rev. J. 
Smith Moffat, formerly for many years a missionary in Matabeleland, 
and having great influence over Lobengula, held the post of Assist- 
tant Commissioner in Bechuanaland. He persuaded the king, 
already uneasy between the Boers and the Portuguese, to seek 
British intervention, and in March, 1888, Sir Hercules Robinson, 
Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa, 
made a treaty whereby Lobengula undertook to make no agreement 
with any foreign powder, nor sell nor concede any part of his territory, 
without the sanction of the British Government. Treaties or con- 
ventions of 1890 and 1891 defined German limits to the west, the 
Transvaal boundary to the south, at the Limpopo River, and the 
Portuguese boundary to the east, and the region of Matabeleland 
and Mashonaland, or Southern Rhodesia, was thus guarded from all 
foreign interference. 

The South Africa Company. 

Prior to these last arrangements, the South Africa Company, 
having the way cleared by the treaty with Lobengula, proceeded to 
occupy the region assigned for its operations. It was a great day 
In the history of the "expansion of England" when on June 28th, 
1890, a body of about 200 chosen pioneers and a force of 500 armed 
police started northwards from the Macloutsie River, a tributary of 



THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 255 

the Limpopo, and made their way, over 400 miles of the gradually 
rising plateau, to Mount Hampden in Mashonaland. A route on 
the east side of Matabeleland was taken, at the desire of the king, 
in order to avoid all risk of collision with his indunas, the com- 
manders of the impis, or regiments of young warriors, about 15,000 
strong, jealous of the presence of white men, eager to "wash their 
spears," in the Zulu phrase, and hard to restrain. Under the 
guidance of the famous hunter, Mr. Frederic Courtney Selous, who 
knew the region better than any other white man living, the expedition 
arrived near Mount Hampden on September 12th, having made 
a rough kind of road on the march. Forts were constructed at Tuli, 
Victoria, Charter, and at Salisbury, near Mount Hampden, and at 
the last place there was soon a town with many of the appliances of 
civilization — hotels and hospitals, churches and clubs, lawyers and 
land-agents, stores, newspapers, a race-course, and a sanitary board. 
The pioneers were disbanded, and various parties began to peg off 
claims in the auriferous quartz districts of Mashonaland. 

The adventurers had some initial trouble in the very rainy sea- 
son of 1890-91, and many deaths and much suffering came from 
the lack of medicines and proper food. Prosperity then began to 
dawn, and in September, 1891, within a year of the occupation, 
there were over 10,000 mining-claims allotted in the six goldfields 
which had been opened. The newcomers were, however, destined 
to have to assert possession of Matabeleland and Mashonaland, 
not merely by concession from its ruler of a British "protectorate" 
and right of occupation, but by conquest. 

Trouble with Lobengula. 

It was inevitable that war should come between the new oc- 
cupants of the territory and the restless warriors of Lobengula. 
Mashonaland was under British protection, but Matabele raids on 
the people were continued, and in July, 1893, the High Commis- 
sioner authorized the company's administrator. Dr. Jameson, to 
take all due measures for the protection of British settlers and of 
the Mashonas. The company's few hundreds of irregular troops 
and police were gathered for action. At Tuli, on the frontier, 140 



256 THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 

miles south of Bulawayo, were 250 armed whites; at Victoria, 200 
miles north-east of Tuli, and east of Bulawayo, a second column 
of 400 Europeans was formed ; at Fort Salisbury, 190 miles north 
of Victoria, about 260 whites were mustered. The whole force, 
under 1000 men, was well supplied with ammunition and had ^ome 
of the invaluable Maxim guns. On September 25th the men of the 
Salisbury and Victoria columns, having crossed the Matoppo Hills 
as they marched on Bulawayo, the enemy's capital, and formed a 
double laager on the slope beyond the Shangani River, were at- 
tacked before daylight by a body of 5000 Matabele. The steady 
fire of the breechloaders and the hail of bullets from the Maxims 
repulsed three assaults with severe loss and cleared the way for 
the advance. On November ist, at two days' march from the 
royal kraal, in a laager hastily made on open ground, the British 
were again attacked by the choicest regiments, or impis, number- 
ing 7000 men. As they charged from the bush with the usual 
undaunted valor of the Zulus, the enemy fell by hundreds without 
being able to approach the defenders, and at last relinquished their 
efforts. The victors in this combat, two days later, found Bula- 
wayo abandoned by the natives and in flames. Two white traders, 
protected by Lobengula with admirable good faith and generosity, 
were there intact, along v/ith their goods. Another column, com- 
posed of the Tuli force and the imperial police of the Bechuanaland 
protectorate, which had become involved in the war, mustering in 
all 440 Europeans, was marching on Bulawayo when, on November 
2d, the wagons in the rear of the column were attacked by the Ma- 
tabele. The attack was repulsed with loss on both sides, and the 
capture of Bulawayo, becoming known to the natives who were 
harassing the advance on both flanks, caused their dispersal. On 
November 12th Major Goold Adams, the leader, brought his men to 
the capital, and met Major Forbes, the successful commander of the 
other forces, and Dr. Jameson, the Administrator of Mashonaland. 

The Shang-ani Patrol. 

These events were followed by the famous affair known in mili- 
tary and colonial history as ''The Shangani Patrol" Lobengula had 



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THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 257 

fled northwards with a considerable body of his men from Bula- 
wayo, and a small force, under Major Allan Wilson, was sent for- 
ward to track the king- to his retreat. His party, composed of 
himself and thirty-three troopers, was the advance guard of 300 
men under Major Forbes, and having crossed the Shangani in 
following the king's trail, they were separated from the main body 
by the river's sudden rise through the heavy rains. On December 
4, 1893, they were surrounded by a great body of the enemy, and, 
all disdaining to attempt escape by the speed of their horses, were 
killed to the last man. A heavy fire was poured in upon them from 
the bush on all sides. When the horses had fallen the men formed 
into a close ring, and kept up a steady fire with rifles and revolvers 
against every rush. When a man was wounded he lay down, and, 
if he could, fired still from his prone position, or handed up his am- 
munition to his comrades. At last, all were killed or so severely 
wounded that they could fire no more, with the exception of one 
big man who, in the words of the chieftain who described the event, 
** would not die." He took his stand at the top of a large ant-heap 
in an open space, gathered round him a number of revolvers and 
rifles lately wielded by the slain, with plenty of ammunition, and 
slew a number of his countless assailants. The Matabele, taking 
him for a wizard who could not be slain or exhausted, though they 
saw the blood of his wounds, were awed by the aspect of this 
splendid Briton picking up weapon after weapon and shooting in all 
directions with wonderful aim — in front to each flank and over his 
shoulders — whenever a foeman came towards him out of the bush. 
Shot at last in the hip, he fired on, sitting down, and the fight was 
ended by the stabbing of assegais only when he sank exhausted 
from the loss of blood. The thirty-four heroes of the Shangani 
patrol had slain nearly four hundred of the men who assailed them. 

" Men of Men They Were." 

The brave old warrior Umjan, chief induna of the Imbeza 
Impi — Lobengula Royal Regiment — a man who saw the whole con- 
flict, spoke with the utmost enthusiasm, after his surrender, of the 
magnificent courage of those who fell *• Men of men they were," 

17 



258 THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 

he cried, " whose fathers were men of men before them. They 
fought and died together ; those who could have saved themselves 
chose to remain and die with their brothers." Then, turning to 
some of his warriors, who, like himself, had "come in" to surrender, 
he said: "You did not think that white men were as brave as Mata- 
bele ; now you must see that they are men indeed, to whom you are 
but as timid girls." 

Early in 1894, Lobengula died. Many hundreds of his men, 
besides those who fell in action, had perished from the fevers of the 
country and from privation, and the Matabele were glad to sur- 
render "that they might sleep" — the native phrase for being free 
from anxiety. A great impression had been made upon the native 
mind by the fire of the Maxims, regarded as magical gifts of the gods 
to the white man, and, still more, by the heroism of those who, face to 
face with a host of Matabele, and devoid of Maxims, had died, and in 
their death had won the profound respect of those who slew them. 
The remains were disinterred, and the thirty-four skulls — most of 
them pierced by bullets — were buried in consecrated ground near 
some stately ruins, due to an unknown religion and civilization. 
There they lie, on a bare, rocky mound, amidst dense tropical bush 
and flowering trees, with a granite monolith raised by Mr. Cecil 
Rhodes to their memory. Assuredly, they did not perish in vain, 
and their countrymen have a ready reply to the timid counsels of 
"little Englanders," and to the sneers of cynics — if such there be— 
who prate of the degenerac}^ of modern Englishmen, in a simple 
reference to some of the builders of empire — the men of the Shan- 
gani patrol. 

Fall of the Native Power. 

The military system established by Chaka, and continued by 
Dingaan, Panda, Cetewayo and Lobengula, was now broken up. 
It was conclusively proved that no hosts of native warriors could 
successfully deal with far inferior bodies of Europeans armed with 
the most modern weapons. The whole campaign had been carried 
on at the sole cost of the South Africa Company, without aid from 
imperial troops, and, by right of demonstrated power to win and to 



THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 259 

hold, the company entered upon the full administration of Mata- 
beleland and Mashonaland, or Southern Rhodesia, under the able 
direction of Mr. Rhodes's chief subordinate, Dr. Jameson. There 
was, however, to be another struggle before the final establishment 
of peace. In the last days of March, 1896, an outbreak of rebellion 
occurred, partly due to the effect produced on the native mind by 
the failure of Dr. Jameson in his notable ''raid," an event soon to 
be dealt with in this record. 

At the end of 1895 there were about 4000 white settlers in the 
country, and the prospect of peace and order and civilization was 
very unwelcome to the large remaining numbers of disbanded Ma- 
tabele warriors, who had been wont to thrive on raids into Masho- 
naland. The natives were, moreover, in a state of distress from the 
ravages of rinderpest, or cattle plague, which had worked its way 
downwards from the distant Somaliland, and through the destruction 
of crops by locusts and drought. They were unable to understand 
the policy of the British authorities in slaughtering cattle to stay 
the pestilence among the animals, and seriously believed that the 
extermination of the Matabele race by starvation was the object in 
view. A well-concerted plan for the seizure of Bulawayo was 
formed, and it failed only from premature action on the part of the 
rebels. The place was put in a state of defense, but nothing could 
at first be done on behalf of the outlying settlers in many parts of 
the land, many of whom were slaughtered and plundered without 
mercy. 

The Last Struggle. 

By the middle of April the whole territory outside the capital 
and the various forts was in the hands of the Matabele natives. A 
large force of cavalry and mounted infantry hurried up from Cape 
Town and Natal, and volunteers, with some infantry from England, 
made up a total body of about 5000 men. These were placed in 
charge of a very experienced commander, Sir Frederick Carrington, 
and his able direction of affairs, in a campaign of several months' 
duration, was completely successful. There was much hard fighting 
of small flying columns in the "bush" against superior numbers of 



26o THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 

natives. Bulawayo was invested in great force, but never seriously 
attacked, owing to its strong defenses, and on April 25th a three 
hours' battle near the town ended in the rout of 3000 Matabeles. 
On June ist Mr. Rhodes arrived with a column of troops from Fort 
Salisbury, and the enemy were again defeated near Bulawayo. In a 
series of able operations General Carrington had the better of the 
struggle, relieving Fort Salisbury by a cavalry attack, storming a 
strong position early in July, near Inyati, northeast of Bulawayo, 
capturing another stronghold in the Matoppo Hills, held by five 
impis, in August, and generally making a strong impression. 

Mr. Rhodes, about the middle of August, had the courage to 
go unarmed, with five attendants, from Bulawayo, to an interview 
with chiefs in the Matoppo Hills, and there he persuaded them to 
terms of peace. The whole contest was soon over, on terms 
amounting to unconditional surrender. 

Railroad Buildingr. 

The restoration of peace was followed by energetic efforts to 
retrieve past losses, and to push forward the work of developing 
the country's resources. The railway from Cape Town, through 
Bechuanaland to Mafeking, was extended across Khama's country, 
by November, 1897, to Bulawayo, standing on a plateau about 4500 
feet above sea level, in one of the finest climates of the world. The 
place has become a considerable, well-built, modern town, within 
three days' journey of the Cape, and three weeks of England. 
Railways are also connecting Salisbury and other points in Mashona- 
land with the coast at Beira, south of the Zambezi mouths, and the 
telegraph system is being extended to Nyassaland and Uganda, in 
the north. The capital of the South Africa Company has been 
increased from one to three and a half millions sterling, and a large 
revenue is derived from mining, trading and professional licenses, 
and from postal and telegraph services. The whole area of their 
operations covers about 500,000 square miles — Matabeleland and 
Mashonaland, or Southern Rhodesia, having together an area 
of 141,000 square miles, and a population approaching half a 
million. 



THE GREAT CHARTERED COMPANIES. 26 1 

Up to the Lakes. 

We must now turn to Northern Rhodesia, or British Central 
Africa, a territory extending, with a protectorate, to the southern 
end of Lake Tanganyika and the western shore of Lake Nyassa, 
including the district known as the Shire highlands, the region hav- 
ing been, until recent years, one known only to missionaries, and 
sportsmen in search of big game. The spread of British influence 
and enterprise in this region began with Dr. Livingstone's great 
Zambezi travels, extending from 1858 to 1863. Many Scottish and 
English mission stations arose, and trade, as usual, followed the 
steps of the spreaders of Christianity and civilized arts. In 1878 a 
company of Scottish merchants formed the Livingstone Central 
Africa Company, and the rivers and lakes were opened up to steam 
navigation. A road was made by a British engineer, James Stewart, 
between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika; coffee plantations were 
established on the Blantyre highlands ; schools, and industries in 
which the natives were trained, were introduced. The association 
was afterwards known as the African Lakes Company, and the 
Lake Nyassa region had been fairly developed by British agency 
prior to the starting of the British South Africa Company. 

Jealous attempts at encroachment by Portugal were firmly met 
by Lord Salisbury, and an Anglo-Portuguese agreement of 189 1, and 
arrangements made with Germany, defined the boundaries of British 
Central Africa, and added about 300,000 square miles of the best land 
in Africa to the British Empire. Early in 1891 the British Govern- 
ment allowed the South Africa Company to extend its sphere of 
operations to the north of the Zambezi, and in the following year 
the African Lakes Company was absorbed into the new, vigorous and 
powerful association. The Arab slave dealers had given much 
trouble in the Lake Nyassa region, and had besieged the station of 
the African Lakes Company at Karonga, but through the services 
of Captain Lugard, and of Mr. (now Sir) H. H. Johnston, formerly 
British Consul at Mozambique, appointed British Commissioner in 
Nyassaland, the slave trade was to some extent suppressed, and 
Portuguese attempts at interference were thwarted. 



CHAPTER XX, 



Discovery of Gold— " The Rand"— Johannesburg— The Outlanders— 

Origin of the Transvaal Wealth— Adventurers— Features of 

the Mining Region— How the Gold is Found— Cost and 

Profit— Equipment of the Mines— In the Assay Office. 



SINCE Portuguese sailors in search of a sea-route to India first 
sighted the Cape of Good Hope, the most important event 
that has happened in South Africa was the discovery of rich 
gold and diamond fields in that country. This discovery 
spread new life and energy throughout the colonies, increased the 
trade, gave employment to natives as well as colonists, multiplied 
the wealth, and gave an impetus to the spread of civilization through 
unknown regions. It also led to the great political controversies 
that have vexed that region, and to the war that has now convulsed 
it. We have already related the story of the diamond mines at 
Kimberley. The existence of gold in these regions has been known 
much longer than that of diamonds. Recent investigations show 
that gold had been in the territory now called Mashonaland many 
centuries ago, and that that was the "Land of Ophir" in the days 
of Solomon. Thirty years ago gold was found at Tati, north of the 
Limpopo. Twenty years ago it was found in various parts of the 
Transvaal, chiefly in the Lydenberg fields and the Kaap valley. 
Such was the success in the latter that, in 1885, the Kaap, or 
De Kaap, valley was proclaimed a ''public gold field;" and the 
" Sheba Hill," where was the Sheba mine, was spoken of as a 
" mountain of gold." When these discoveries were announced in 
England, in September, 1886, the London Times devoted a leading 
article to the immense wealth of the Transvaal gold fields, an article 
which seemed to have the effect of intoxicating the speculative 
world, and producing a "gold mania" in the minds of the colonists. 

(262) 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 

''The Rand." 



In the same year a conglomerate rock containing gold was 
found on the Witwatersrand, on the estate of Langlaagte, a couple 
of miles west of the present town of Johannesburg. The mines on 
this estate alone have produced gold worth more than $15,000,000. 
The Witwatersrand, or Rand, is the chief watershed of the Trans- 
vaal, and consists of a ridge of hills running east and west through 
the central part of the country. On the summit of this ridge, at an 
elevation of about 6,000 feet, stands Johannesburg, the gold city, 
the mining centre of the Transvaal. Its high elevation above the 
sea-level gives the town its unique climate, and renders it, consider- 
ing its sub-tropical latitude, one of the coolest places in South Africa ; 
and a place, as the London " Times " lately remarked, "where the 
physical qualities of Englishmen need never degenerate." 

The auriferous conglomerate, or "banket reef," as it is called, 
stretches throughout the whole extent of the Rand, and the south 
slopes of the ridge are one vast gold-field, covered with tall shafts 
and head-gearing of many mines. A quarter of a century ago the 
total annual exports of Cape Colony amounted to $10,000,000. Four 
years ago they amounted to $75,000,000, of which $25,000,000 may 
be reckoned as gold yielded by the marvelously wealthy gold-fields 
of the Transvaal. So vast and so rich are the auriferous beds that 
the value of the ore locked up in the bowels of the earth, and only 
awaiting the industry of man for its extraction, would amount to 
such a stupendous sum that it would be far more than sufficient to 
pay off our National debt. 

Johannesburg. 

Johannesburg, called the ''London of South Africa," occupying 
a site which, a dozen years ago, was barren veldt, and for some time 
later was only a miners' camp, was, at the outbreak of the war, the 
centre of one hundred thousand inhabitants, and was increasing with 
great rapidity. The town is built on part of the gold-field ; and as 
far as the eye can reach westwards are seen the tall chimneys of the 
various mines, running in a straight line along the south slope of the 
Rand. The largest or main reef runs for about thirty miles uninter- 



264 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 

ruptedly, gold-bearing and honeycombed with mines throughout 
its extent. This main reef, even were it alone, could speak for the 
stability and prosperity of the gold trade of the Transvaal. On 
one mail steamer arriving at London from the Cape was said to be 
between ^15,000,000 and $20,000,000 worth of gold ; and usually 
$5,000,000 worth is brought by each mail boat. Thus South Africa, 
in the abundance of its mineral wealth, answers better than any 
other country to the magnificent description of the Book of Job : 
"The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it hath dust of 
gold." 

The Outlanders. 

It was a few years after the London Convention of 1884 was 
signed that the rich goldfields were discovered in various parts of 
the Transvaal ; and, under the guarantee of the Republic being 
under British suzerainty, and on the cordial invitation of the Trans- 
vaal Government, a mixed population, made up of Afrikanders, 
Britons, Americans, Germans, Jews, etc., poured rapidly into the 
country. These various elements are named by the Boers uit- 
landers — that is, "outlanders" or "foreigners." The word uit- 
lander, in meaning and pronunciation, is like the Scotch " oot- 
lander," now little used ; although the adjective form "ootlandish" 
(foreign) is still in common use. The Outlanders constituted the 
mining, industrial and commercial population; the number of adults 
was in 1898 estimated at about 60,000, while the total population of 
Outlanders — men, women and children — probably amounted to 
about 190,000. 

Origin of the Transvaal Wealth. 

There can be no doubt that the material wealth of the country 
thereafter was due to the presence of these immigrants. The 
Second Republic of 1880 was practically a new creation, and in the 
twenty years of its existence the Outlander has contributed far more 
to its construction than the Boer. He discovered and he has worked 
the mineral wealth. In ten years his numbers have increased from 
a comparative handful to a population estimated a year ago, for the 
Rand alone, at 175,000. He has paid the taxes, he has built the 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 265 

towns, he has constructed the railways, he has estabUshed the 
commerce, he has settled on the land. The State, which he found 
nearly bankrupt, has an accumulated surplus calculated to have 
reached about ^10,000,000 a year. 

Adventurers. 

On the other hand, it ought to be known that ever since the 
discovery of goldfields in the famous Witwatersrand, in 1886, the 
immigrants, who have poured into the Rand in a ceaseless stream, 
are very largely composed of adventurers intoxicated with the greed 
of gold. The ''gold mania," as it has been aptly called, whether 
exhibited in California, Australia, or the Transvaal, has always had a 
demoralizing effect upon the habits and morality of the community. 
This baneful influence was shown in the Rand ; for although we 
cannot endorse the statement lately made which stigmatizes the 
Rand as "the wickedest place in the world," yet there can be no 
doubt that Johannesburg — the mining centre — stood at a low ebb in 
its morality and social life. The population was made up of the 
surplus population of many lands, drawn together from greed of 
gold. Some were growing enormously wealthy ; many, struggling 
for a livelihood, were crowded together in excessive discomfort, 
while vice was rampant on every side. Drinking and gambling, 
cursing and swearing, racing and betting, cheating and chicanery, 
crime and murder, were alike too common, and blackened the moral 
atmosphere of the Golden City. 

Features of the Miningr Region. 

The goldfields of the Rand have never been the home of the 
individual miner, armed only with pick and shovel ; they are the 
field of capital, machinery and skilled labor, and have attracted a 
more intelligent, skilled and settled population than the mining 
camp of the alluvial fields, and are orderly and organized. Gold min- 
ing there is an industry, not a field of adventure for a pair of strong 
arms. To fully equip a mine nowadays something like a couple ot 
million dollars has to be sunk in the ground before an ounce of gold 
is taken out of it. To-day work is being carried on at a depth of 



2 66 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 

over 2,000 feet, and within the next few years we shall see shafts of 
double that depth. The industry is as systematically organized as 
coal mining in this country, which it superficially resembles with its 
outfit of hauling gear, shafts and tunnels. It presents more engi- 
neering and mechanical difficulties ; solid rock is harder to win than 
soft coal, and when the ore is brought to the surface, further pro- 
cesses, involving a very high order of mechanical and chemical skill, 
are necessary before the gold is recovered. 

How the Gold is Found. 

The gold-bearing reef of the Rand is peculiar, and is practi- 
cally unknown in other parts of the w^orld. It is a conglomerate 
rock through which gold has been evenly and finely distributed by 
water action in ages long gone by, few of the particles being visible 
to the naked eye. One of its most important features, as distin- 
guished from quartz, is the regularity of its distribution through the 
rock. It was given a graphic name by one of the first Dutchmen 
who saw it, when he dubbed it banket, i. e., the sweetmeat which 
we know as almond rock, or toffee, the almonds being represented 
by the water-worn pebbles studded in the rock. The name has 
stuck, and it is known as a banket reef to this day. Of this mar- 
velously rich formation a line — or more strictly speaking, a rough 
arc of a circle — of some thirty miles in length has been discovered, 
and many experts are of opinion that there is much more to come. 
This long stretch is unbroken, except by an occasional dike or 
fault. It is of varying richness at different parts, but within each 
section there is a wonderful uniformity of quality, and it is this fea- 
ture which has made the actual mining, as apart from the share 
market transactions, a settled industry and not a speculation. Find 
the quality of your reef at a particular spot, and given the cost of 
labor, machinery and other items, you know whether your mine is a 
payable proposition under existing conditions. It is all a question 
of cost, for it is obvious that it is useless to recover ^4 worth of 
gold if it costs you $5 to do it. 

The main reef and the few subsidiary reefs found in proximity 
to it run east and west, and dip from north to south. In other 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 16"] 

words, the outcrop is to the north, from which it dips into the earth 
at an angle of about 45° in a southerly direction. The reef was 
discovered little more than a decade ago in the neighborhood of 
where Johannesburg now stands, at places where it actually cropped 
up to the surface. It was anxiously followed as it sank on the slant 
into the earth, first by trenches and then by primitive shafts, until 
confidence in the permanency of the formation was established, 
capital poured in, and the industry gradually assumed its present 
dimensions and its output of over 200,000 ounces of gold a month. 
It was clear, however, that if the reef dipped into the earth so 
rapidly it must soon get beyond human reach, and be lost to the 
world ; but further search proved that after a certain depth it has 
uniformly lost much of its downward direction, and gradually flat- 
tened out. It is this which has made the deep level mines possible, 
and added enormously to the length of life of the fields. Even 
now in places the mines stand three deep on the reef from north to 
south, working at an increasing depth, and under better economic 
and happier political conditions those numbers will be increased. 

Cost and Profit. 

To equip some of these mines ready for getting out gold and 
paying dividends, as much as $3,000,000 has sometimes to be laid 
out before a property is ready to pay one shilling of profits. What 
they can do, however, when once in going order, is proved by the 
fact that dividends of from one hundred to three hundred per cent, 
per annum are in ordinary times by no means unknown, and, as in 
the case of the Ferreira, though the $5 shares could recently only 
be purchased at about twenty-five times that figure, they even then 
yielded a fair return on the purchase price. Every month until the 
recent disturbances the mines of this veritable El Dorado were 
turning out at least $5,000,000 value, and yet the greatest mining 
authority in the world has declared — and there is reason to think he 
has under- rather than over-stated it — there is from $1,500,000,000 
to $2,500,000,000 of gold still left capable of being mined at a profit, 
even under the unfavorable auspices of bad government, dear dyna- 
mite and the great cost of living. 



2 68 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 

Equipment of the Mines. 

In the most recently equipped mines, you find air-compressors 
driving long drills about an inch thick, with a steady "jig-jig" into 
the hard rock ; but in many the old-fashioned way of one Kaffir 
holding a drill while the other bangs it on the head with an enormous 
hammer is still followed. When three holes, about two feet apart, 
have been made in this way, dynamite is put in them, fuses are 
lighted, all retire, and when the deadly, poisonous fumes have 
cleared off after the explosion, the dislodged ore is loaded into 
trucks, which are pushed to the shaft, picked up in the skips, and 
whirled high above the surface, where they are tipped over into huge 
ore-bins, which discharge their contents into other trucks waiting 
underneath to convey the ore into the battery-house. 

These batteries, or mills, where the ore is crushed up and the 
gold extracted, are indeed wonderful places. Their cost often runs 
into five or six figures, and in the old days, before the railway, the 
transport alone by wagons of a mill for the Langlaagte Gold-Mining 
Company (for which, by the way, three hundred wagons and some- 
thing like five thousand oxen were employed) was over ^50,000. 
Enter the building, and you are deaf and dumb in the speech- 
destroying, all-conquering roar of the mighty stamps, each weighing 
a thousand pounds, as they reduce to liquid mud the ore and water 
with which they are fed day and night. 

This mud flows out in a stream of the consistency and appear- 
ance of thin gruel, through sieving in front of the stamp-boxes, over 
the long sloping plates. These plates are of copper, covered with 
mercury, which latter metal seizes on the free-gold particles and 
converts them into the same sort of amalgam which the dentist 
uses for stopping teeth, while it lets the residue flow away for further 
treatment by the cyanide process. 

In the Assay Office. 

Having got your gold into the amalgam, the next process is to 
get it out again. Once or twice a month the mill is stopped, the 
plates are scraped, and the amalgam placed in a heated retort 
at the assay office, which vaporizes off and then recondenses the 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 269 

mercury for future use, while leaving the gold to be smelted up 
into bars. 

A single bar, though only about two inches longer than an 
ordinary brick, weighs over a thousand ounces, which in gold repre- 
sents about $20,000. Each mine has its assay office, with its own 
staff of assayers, in order to test continually the value of the ore as 
it is taken out, to know precisely the quality of the stuff going into 
the mill. To do this, and from a sample pound-weight of ore to 
discover to a fraction the number of pennyweights of gold to the 
ton of rock — for it must be remembered that even the richest 
Johannesburg mines seldom return more than an ounce of gold to 
the ton — instruments of the most marvelous fineness and accuracy 
have to be employed. Scales, such as the ones to be seen in the 
glass case, are adjusted to detect differences up to the ten-thousandth 
part of a grain. The assayer will weigh for you a tiny slip of paper, 
and, after he has adjusted the scale to balance exactly, will ask you 
to pencil your name on it. On again putting the paper into the 
scale, the extra weight of the lead-pencil marks at once upsets the 
balance ! 

It may be asked, what becomes of the enormous bulk of crushed 
ore ? Before being allowed to flow into the tailings heaps, which 
are rapidly forming young mountains round Johannesburg, the stuff 
is subjected to the further treatment of the cyanide process, which 
consists in soaking these tailings in a weak solution of cyanide of 
potassium, contained in huge vats. Here any remaining gold which, 
owing to its chemical association with iron pyrites, sulphur, etc., has 
not been attracted by the mercury on the battery-plates, is dissolved, 
to be precipitated by being brought into contact with zinc shavings, 
into a black powder, which is afterwards smelted into bars of the 
precious metal. 



CHAPTER XXI 



Grievances of the Outlanders— Equal Privileges Promised in 1881— 

Changing the Law— How the Promise was Kept— Conditions 

of Citizenship— Allegiance, and Nothing in Return— The 

Agitation for Redress— Another Turn of the Screw 

—The Demands of the Outlanders — 

Beginning Agitation, 

T now remains for us to compress into as small a space as the 

facts will allow, a sketch of the political occurrences which 

finally led a hundred thousand British subjects in the Transvaal 

to revolt and the British Government to intervene in their 

behalf. In August, 1881, in accordance with the terms arranged six 

months before, under the shadow of Majuba Hill, England formally 

signed a Convention under which the Boers were given " complete 

self-government, subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty." Prior 

to the signing of the Convention three British Commissioners — Sir 

Hercules Robinson (High Commissioner of the Cape), Sir Evelyn 

Wood, and Sir Henry de Villiers — discussed with President Kruger 

the conditions under which that qualified independence was to be 

granted. 

Equal Privileg"es Promised in 1881. 

It will be best understood by a quotation from the official 
minutes of the discussion, as they appear in the Blue Book, issued 
in 1882 : 

"Sir Hercules Robinson : Before annexation had British sub- 
jects complete freedom of trade throughout the Transvaal ; were 
they on the same footing as citizens of the Transvaal ? 

*'Mr. Kruger: They were on the same footing as the bur- 
ghers ; there was not the slightest difference, in accordance with 
the Sand River Convention. 

*' Sir Hercules Robinson: I presume you will not object to 
that continuing ? 

(270) 



GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS, 27 1 

" Mr. Kruger : No. There will be equal protection for every- 
body. 

'' Sir Evelyn Wood : And equal privileges ? 

"Mr. Kruger: We make no difference, so far as burgher 
rights are concerned. There may perhaps be some slight difference 
in the case of a young person who has just come into the country." 

Changringr the Law. 

At first there was a pretence of carrying out that pledge. For 
about twelve months a British settler in the Transvaal was legally 
entitled to all the rights of full citizenship after two years' residence. 
In the year after the Convention, however, the Boer Government 
began to back out of its undertaking. In 1882 a law was presented 
to and passed by the Volksraad imposing on candidates for the 
franchise a residence of five years. They were required to begin 
their probation by registering themselves on the Field Cornet's 
books, and to pay $125 on their admission to the rights of citizen- 
ship. No complaint was made of that change in the law. It was 
accepted as a liberal interpretation of President Kruger's "slight 
difference in the case of a young person who had just come into 
the country." 

How the Promise Was Kept. 

But as the gold fields were developed by the aid of British 
money, skill and enterprise, there was a correspondingly large 
influx of British immigrants. The combined attractions of gold 
mining and the opportunities for renumerative trade which it 
afforded, of a healthy climate, and of British protection, induced 
thousands of British people of the middle and artisan classes to 
settle in the new capital of the Rand. By 1890 Johannesburg had 
become as large as an English third-class town. As Sir Alfred 
Milner has said, they were not mere birds of passage. A large 
and increasing proportion of them "contemplated a long residence 
in the country, or to make it their permanent home," like the vast 
numbers of Englishmen who have peopled colonies all over the 
world. The Boers evidently felt the truth of this, and by 1890 they 
had made up their minds that it would be inconvenient to allow the 



272 GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS. 

immigrants to share the rights of citizenship on the basis of a five 
years' quahfication. Accordingly, in 1891, a new law was passed 
imposing a fourteen years' residence on settlers as a qualification 
for the franchise, and even obstructing the operation of that qualifi- 
cation with conditions which made it practically worthless. The 
following were the formalities to be observed and the sacrifices to 
be made : 

Conditions of Citizenship. 

1. Fourteen days after arrival in the country the immigrant 
must enter his name on the Field Cornet's roll. If he omits to 
fulfil this requirement, through ignorance or otherwise, he loses all 
chance of ever becoming eligible. 

2. After having been two years on the Field Cornet's roll, and 
having been continuously resident in the Transvaal throughout 
that period, the settler may take out a certificate of naturalization. 
Naturalization involves : (a) the payment of ^5, (b) the taking of the 
oath of allegiance, and (c) liability to military service. The settler 
then becomes entitled to a vote for the Second Volksraad, and two 
years later, if he is thirty years of age, he is eligible for membership. 
This Second Volksraad was created at the same time as a sop for 
embryo citizens during their novitiate. It is a sort of Parliamentary 
debating society with no power of legislation whatever. It is sub- 
ject to the veto of the First Raad ; it is optional with the President 
to suppress any measure it may originate and to refuse to submit it 
to the First Chamber ; it has no control at all over taxation or 
expenditure ; and it has no voice in measures initiated and passed 
by the First Raad. It will be seen, therefore, how great an honor 
it is to have a seat in the Second Raad, or even to be permitted to 
vote for a candidate for it. 

3. Twelve years after naturalization, if the settler is then forty 
years of age, and if the application is supported by three-fourths 
of the burghers in his district, he may obtain the right to vote for, 
and sit in, the First Raad. But he is still denied the right to vote 
for the President and Commandant-General, and under no condi- 
tions can he obtain one. Against this negation of elementary 







c 
S 

s 

o 

0^ 



ca 



GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS. 273 

justice, let us remind the reader that at the Cape and Natal the full 
rights of citizenship may be obtained by Dutch or any other for- 
eigner after two years' residence. 

Allegiance, and Nothingr in Return. 

Now observe the sacrifice which the settler is called upon to 
make in order to gain this abbreviated right of citizenship, for which 
he must wait fourteen years. At the end of the first two years he 
must take the oath of allegiance, which is as follows : 

'* I desire to become a burgher of the South African Republic, 
abandon, give up, and relinquish all obedience, fealty, and the obli- 
gations of a subject to all and any foreign sovereigns, presidents, 
states and sovereignties, and more especially the sovereign, presi- 
dent, the state, or sovereignty of whom I have hitherto been a sub- 
ject and burgher, and as subject take the oath of fealty and obedi- 
ence to the government and laws of the people of the South African 
Republic." 

That is to say, that for twelve out of the fourteen years' probation 
the settler must be content to relinquish all claim to the protection 
of the state of which he is a citizen without acquiring any equiva- 
lent in the Republic in which he lives ; and he must, if called upon, 
take up arms against any other ruler, *' especially the sovereign 
of whom I have hitherto been a subject." 

The Agitation for Redress. 

The object of this law was, of course, to keep the government 
of the Transvaal permanently in the hands of the men who made 
it, and to chain down the British population to very near the level 
of the Kaffir races. Soon after it was passed the Outlanders, who 
had already begun to feel acutely the political ostracism to which 
they were condemned, formed themselves into a Transvaal National 
Union for the purpose of protection and agitation. Its object was 
defined as "to obtain by all constitutional means equal rights for all 
citizens of the Republic and the redress of all grievances." The 
attention of the British Government was repeatedly drawn to the 

18 



2 74 GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS. 

State of things, and Lord Ripon, who was then Colonial Secretary, 
said in dealing with one of these representations : 

*'The principal ground for criticising the policy of the Republic 
is that, whilst for seven years past it has been gaining in wealth and 
strength by the industry, capital and intelligence of a body of for- 
eigners who, counting adult males against adult males, now exceed 
its native population in numbers, and greatly exceed them in their 
contributions to the State, it has been at the same time adding to 
the stringency of the conditions on which the men who compose 
this new and indispensable element in the body politic can obtain 
the full right of participating in public affairs which concern them so 
vitally and which they have influenced so favorably." 

President Kruger paid no attention to " pious opinions" of this 
kind. The policy of ''patience" suited him very well. In 1893 
British subjects were ordered to join commandos sent to harass 
some of the native tribes. They refused to obey and were thrust 
into gaol. That touched the Outlanders on the sorest spot of all, 
and there was real danger of an insurrection. Lord Loch, the 
High Commissioner, went to the Transvaal, and after advising the 
Outlanders to leave their grievances in the hands of the Imperial 
Government, he warned President Kruger that the ''very real and 
substantial grievances" of the British subject would have to be 
redressed, and for a time British troops were massed on the frontier 
ready to move on Johannesburg for the protection of life and 
property. 

Another Turn of the Screw. 

That special trouble blew over by the exemption of the British 
from military service, but in 1895 ^^- Kruger began to turn the 
screw once more. He induced the Volksraad to pass a Public 
Meetings Law prohibiting open-air meetings, and so struck a blow 
at the only practical means the Outlanders had of ventilating their 
wrongs. At the same time a petition to the Volksraad, signed by 
38,000 persons, praying that they might, "under reasonable condi- 
tions, be admitted to the full rights of citizens," was thrown out 
with contempt. Those things gave new bitterness to the struggle. 



GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS. 275 

and prepared the ground for the outside plot which led to the 
Jameson raid. 

The Demands of the Outlanders. 

At a meeting of the National Union at Johannesburg in 1894 
the grievances and the demands of the Outlanders were set forth in 
a formal and elaborate manner, and it was then emphatically stated 
that no resort to violence was contemplated, although one of the 
principal speakers warned the Government that if their policy was 
persisted in blood would be shed in the streets of Johannesburg, and 
that the responsibility would lie at the doors of the Volksraad. At 
that time much was hoped from the coming elections, as it was 
anticipated that a '' Progressive " majority would be returned to the 
Volksraad, and that a more liberal policy would be pursued. 

But those hopes were doomed to disappointment. The elections 
to the Raad did, indeed, result in the return of a majority of members 
who were commonly reckoned as " Progressives," and the National 
Union, in view of the suggestion that reforms were hindered by the 
making of inflammatory speeches at Johannesburg, discontinued 
their agitation. Nothing, however, came of this change of policy. 

Beginning: Agitation. 

On the 20th of November, 1895, ^ speech was delivered by Mr. 
Lionel Phillips, the chairman of the Chamber of Mines, which 
marked a reversion to the policy of active agitation. On that occa- 
sion Mr. Phillips stated that the position had been endured, and it 
was likely to be endured still longer; and he added that "nothing 
was further from his heart than a desire to see an upheaval, which 
would be disastrous from every point of view, and which would 
probably end in the most horrible of all possible endings — in blood- 
shed." Finally came the manifesto issued by the National Union 
on the 27th of December, 1895, detailing the reforms demanded by 
the Outlanders. These reforms were as follows : 

1. The establishment of the Republic as a true republic under a 
constitution approved of by the whole nation. 

2. An amicable franchise and fair representation. 



276 GRIEVANCES OF THE OUTLANDERS. 

3. The equality of the Dutch and English languages. 

4. The responsibility to the legislature of the heads of the great 
departments. 

5. The removal of religious disabilities. 

6. The establishment of independent courts of justice, with 
adequate pay for the judges to be properly secured. 

7. Liberal education. 

8. An efficient civil service, with adequate pay and pension 
system. 

9. Free trade in African products. 

The manifesto concluded with these ominous words: ''We 
shall expect an answer in plain terms, according to your deliberate 
judgment, at the meeting to be held on January 6th." 

Such was the position of affairs when, on the 30th of December, 
Dr. Jameson Invaded the territory of the South African Republic at 
the head of a force of armed police. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



The Story of Delagoa Bay— Great Britain Gets thie Bay— MacMahon 
Against England— Impossible Condition— Slow Woric in Court. 



aMONG the sources of irritation between Great Britain and 
the Transvaal, we must not overlook Delagoa Bay. That 
splendid harbor is the natural, and indeed only available 
outlet for the Transvaal to the sea, and the Boers long ago 
coveted it. But Great Britain forestalled them, and by combining 
with Portugal, managed to shut the Boers up inland, with no access 
to the sea save by crossing British or Portuguese territory. Delagoa 
Bay is of especial interest to Americans, because it was an American 
who built the famous railroad there, which has for years been the 
subject of international litigation, and which, after interminable and 
inexplicable delays, is still before the Court of Arbitration. A brief 
review of the story of Delagoa Bay, and the competition for its 
ownership, will be appropriate in this place. 

The history of Delagoa Bay dates back to the time of the hero 
of the Lusiad. It is now more than three hundred years since Vasco 
da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, discovered it and made a landing 
at the place now known as Lorenzo Marques, just at the north of 
the mouth of the river called by the Portuguese the " Espiritu 
Sancto," but more generally known as the English River. No 
serious attempt was made by the Portuguese to colonize or to con- 
trol that region, although they claimed ownership of it by the right 
of discovery. In the eighteenth century the Dutch, who then owned 
Cape Colony, declined to recognize the Portuguese ownership, and 
established a fort and trading station of their own on the south side 
of the English River, just opposite Lorenzo Marques. To this the 
Portuguese made no objection. The Dutch post was not long main- 
tained, however, and down to the early part of the present century 
that whole region was still in a state of primeval savagery. 

(277) 



2yS THE STORY OF DELAGOA BAY. 

Great Britain Gets the Bay. 

After the Napoleonic wars, the Dutch possessions in South 
Africa passed into the hands of the British, and the latter, observing 
the neglected condition of Delagoa Bay, sent an expedition thither. 
The bay was for the first time carefully surveyed, and treaties were 
made with the native chiefs in that neighborhood by which they ceded 
their respective territories absolutely to Great Britain. After con- 
cluding these treaties, the British commander, Captain Owen, sailed 
for Madagascar. During his absence, a British schooner from Cape 
Town entered the southern part of the bay, which was the part of it 
over which Captain Owen had established British sovereignty. The 
Portuguese authorities at Lorenzo Marques promptly seized it and 
condemned it to be sold. Before it was sold, however. Captain Owen 
returned. He at once showed to the Portuguese authorities the 
treaties he had concluded, and warned them that British authority 
must be respected. The Portuguese yielded and released the 
schooner. 

That was in 1823, and for half a century thereafter nobody ven- 
tured to dispute Great Britain's ownership of the southern half of 
Delagoa Bay. That territory was continuously treated as British. 
But in 1 87 1 the Portuguese again seized a British ship, this time 
hailing from Natal. Mr. Gladstone was then Prime Minister, and 
Lord Kimberley was Colonial Secretary. Had they firmly maintained 
the title of Great Britain to property that had been indisputably 
British for fifty years, Portugal would have yielded promptly, as 
before, and there would have been no further dispute about Delagoa 
Bay. Instead, they hesitated and paltered, and finally agreed to 
submit the case to arbitration, without appeal. The President of the 
French Republic was named as the sole arbitrator. M. Thiers was 
at that time President, but was soon after succeeded by Marshal 
MacMahon. The latter decided in favor of Portugal and against 
Great Britain, and the latter acquiesced in the decision, although the 
equity of it has never been admitted. 

It was not long after that time that the secret cause of Portugal's 
aggressive attitude was revealed. The Portuguese Governor at 



THE STORY OF DELAGOA BAY. 279 

Lorenzo Marques had heard rumors, and by thorough investigation 
had confirmed them, that gold in large quantities was to be found 
throughout a large part of the Transvaal Republic, within a hun- 
dred or a hundred and fifty miles of Delagoa Bay. Of this he 
made certain before a single hint of it had reached English ears. 
He knew that Delagoa Bay was the natural outlet for the enor- 
mous trade that would soon be developed in that region. He 
therefore reckoned it worth while to play a desperate game for 
securing to Portugal sole possession of the bay. In this, thanks 
to his audacity and to the weakness and blundering of the Brit- 
ish Government of the day, he succeeded. Portugal has now, 
therefore, undisputed possession of the entire bay and its two islands. 

MacMahon Against England. 

Marshal MacMahon's decision did not end the controversies in 
that quarter, however. It was soon seen to be desirable that a rail- 
road should be constructed from the bay to the heart of the Trans- 
vaal Republic. In December, 1875, ^^e Transvaal entered into an 
agreement with Portugal for the construction of such a road. If 
Portugal would have a road built from the bay to the Transvaal 
frontier, a distance of about fifty-five miles, the Transvaal would 
continue it from that point to Pretoria, or " up to a centre of pro- 
duction which should insure the traffic of the line and the develop- 
ment of international commerce." Eight years later, in December, 
1883, the Portuguese Government granted to an American citizen, 
Colonel Edward McMurdo, a charter for the building of a railroad 
from Lorenzo Marques to the Transvaal frontier. A concession 
was granted to him for the operation of the railroad for ninety-nine 
years, during which time Portugal agreed not to allow the construc- 
tion of any other railroad for a distance of seventy miles on each 
side of his line. 

That concession gave him a practical monopoly of inland trade 
from Delagoa Bay, and in consideration of the enormous value of 
that monopoly he asked for no subsidy or other aid from the Portu- 
guese Government. He, however, received various land and other 
grants of enormous value. 



iSo THE STORY OF DELAGOA BAY. 

Colonel McMurdo's operations were at first hampered by ru- 
mors of a scheme of the Portuguese and Transvaal Governments 
to build, parallel with and close to his line, not a railroad, but a 
"tramway," which, while not violating the concessions in terms, 
would do so in fact, and largely destroy the value of his grants. 
He at first formed a Portuguese company for building the road 
and exploiting his concession, with a capital of ^2,500,000. The 
rumors about the tramway prevented the success of this company, 
however, and the shares were presently transferred to an English con- 
cern known as ''The Delagoa Bay and East Africa Railway Company, 
Limited." In March, 1887, this company Issued bonds to the amount 
of <J2, 000,000, and subsequently increased them to $3,750,000. 
Work on the construction of the railroad was then pressed under 
the direction of Sir Thomas Tancred, and by November, 1887, the 
road was completed to the Transvaal frontier. 

Impossible Condition. 

Then, to the consternation of everybody concerned, the Portu- 
guese Government declared that it must be built some distance fur- 
ther on, and that it must be thus extended and completely finished 
within eight months from that date. Against this the company 
vigorously protested, but at the same time undertook to do the ad- 
ditional work. The eight months in question comprised, however, 
the whole of the rainy season, and during five of those months 
it was Impossible to do any work. The expiration of the eight 
months, therefore, found the supplementary portion of the road 
not quite finished. Thereupon, at the end of June, 1889, the Por- 
tuguese Government revoked the concession and confiscated the 
entire railroad property, which It has ever since managed for its 
own benefit. 

About this time Colonel McMurdo died. But his rights were 
taken up by both the British and American Governments. Several 
British warships were sent to Delagoa Bay, and Portugal was warned 
that she would be held strictly responsible for any injur)' or loss to 
British subjects. The United States Government also made some 
vigorous representations on behalf of Colonel McMurdo's heirs and 



THE STORY OF DELAGOA BAY. 28 1 

Other American investors. After some months of diplomatic fencing 
it was agreed by the three governments concerned that the whole 
matter should be submitted to arbitration. 

The Swiss Government was called upon to act as arbitrator, 
and it appointed, in September, 1890, three of its most eminent 
jurists to constitute the tribunal. These were acceptable to the 
three governments, and on June 10, 1891, the representatives of 
Great Britain, the United States and Portugal formally signed the 
writ of submission. 

Slow Work in Court. 

Arbitration proceeded deliberately. Not until February i, 
1892, was the Court organized. The claims of the Delagoa Bay 
Company, demanding compensation to the amount of $7,250,000, 
were laid before the Court in March, 1892, and soon after the claims 
of Mrs. McMurdo were added for nearly $1,500,000 more. Nine 
months later the Portuguese Government filed its answer. Rejoinder 
and sur-rejoinder followed, and not until November, 1894, were the, 
written pleadings finally closed. Since that date similar deliberation 
has been observed, although the British and American Governments 
have used all proper means to hasten decision. Many of the points 
involved were purely technical, and in order to deal with them intel- 
ligently the Court decided, in 1896, to appoint an expert commission 
of engineers to assist it. This commission dispatched one of its 
number, Mr. Nicolle, to Delagoa Bay, in November, 1896, to exam- 
ine the entire route and report upon it. He returned from his 
errand in June, 1897, and made his report to the tribunal. 

The decision of this tribunal, which may be given at any time, 
will fix beyond dispute the ownership of this railroad with its mo- 
nopoly for ninety-nine years of the shortest route to the sea from what 
is probably the richest mineral region in the world. Competent 
engineers, thoroughly acquainted with that country, and with the 
whole subject, estimate the concession to be worth at present more 
than $30,000,000, which is several times the entire claim made against 
Portugal. It may be added that the Transvaal end of the line is 
now completed as far as Pretoria. 



282 THE STORY OF DELAGOA BAY. 

As to the ownership of Delagoa Bay itself, Great Britain has 
thus far acquiesced in the decision of the French President. It is 
interesting to recall, however, that in June, 1875, the British Gov- 
ernment proposed to that of Portugal a mutual agreement to the 
effect that whichever way that award might be given "the Power in 
whose favor the award is made will not entertain any proposal for 
the acquisition of the territory by any other Power until the defeated 
claimant shall have had an opportunity of making a reasonable offer 
for the acquisition of that territory, either by purchase or for some 
other consideration." To this the Portuguese Government agreed. 
As the case stands, therefore, Portugal is the owner of Delagoa 
Bay, but is bound not to transfer it to the possession of any other 
power without giving Great Britain the first opportunity to acquire 
it. If such an opportunity should be offered there can be no question 
as to what Great Britain would do. 



CHAPTER XXIII 



The story of the Jameson Raid— Services Among Savages— A Fine 
Administrator— Fighting the Matabeles— How the Raid Began— 
Inspired by Clive— Preparations for the Raid— Recruiting a 
Motley Host— On the March— The Raid Condemned— Prog- 
ress of the Raiders — The Battle of Krugersdorp— The 
Boers " Lie Low"— A Desperate Charge— A Bad Night 
—The End of the Game- How the Raiders were 
Trapped— The White Flag— Treatment of the 
Raiders— A Tell-Tale Letter— Magnanimity 
of President Kruger— Handed Over to 
the British— Punishment of the Raid- 
ers— The Transvaal's Bill. 



THE leader of the famous raid was Leander Starr Jameson, a 
Scotchman of forty-two, who had spent seventeen years in 
South Africa, the last eight of which had been passed in the 
service of Mr. Rhodes. He was born in Edinburgh, his 
father being writer to the "Signet," and his mother being a 
daughter of Major-General John Pringle. The family settled in 
London, and young Jameson studied medicine at the University 
College. He distinguished himself as a student, and, for a man of 
medium height and slight physique, was a tolerable athlete. He 
won several silver medals as a student, a scholarship in surgery, 
and when he graduated at London University, in 1875, took away 
the gold medal for medical jurisprudence. Then his health broke 
down, and he took a tour in America. On his return, in 1878, he 
went to South Africa, and entered into partnership with Dr. Prince, 
in Kimberley. The practice prospered exceedingly, for to profes- 
sional knowledge and capacity for incessant work the young doctor 
brought a suavity of manner and no mean social gifts. 

Mr. Rhodes was, in the earlier '8o's, a rising millionaire, a 
king among Kimberley financiers, a member of the Legislative 
Assembly, and a politician, the vastness of whose aims was realized 

(283) 



284 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

only by his intimates. The two men struck up a close friendship, 
and Dr. Jameson is reported to have been one of his earliest confi- 
dants in the great scheme of northern extension. When, in 1888, 
the amalgamation of the diamond mines was completed, Mr. Rhodes 
was free to begin his plan of operations. He picked out Dr. Jame- 
son as Mr. Rudd's companion in the mission to Lobengula, which 
was to obtain leave to march a pioneer force into Mashonaland ; 
and Dr. Jameson threw up one of the most lucrative practices in 
South Africa, staking his all upon his friend's accomplishment of his 
dreams. 

Services Amongr Savages. 

He remained at Buluwayo for three months, treating Loben- 
gula for the gout, and becoming high favorite with that unfortunate 
potentate. He was at Buluwayo again when the pioneer expedition 
followed Mr. Selous up country, and had much to do with securing 
a safe passage for it, the Matabele, in reality, being anxious for the 
king's leave to bar its way. Dr. Jameson joined the column as Mr. 
Rhodes's representative, marched with it to Mount Hampden, and 
then, with Major Frank Johnson, struck across country eastward to 
the Pungwe, and from thence by water to Cape Town. 

In 1890 he returned to Fort SaHsbur}', and during 1890-91, 
with two English companions, visited Gungunhana's country, with 
the object of including it in the territory of the chartered company. 
He was successful in extracting a concession and treaty from the 
king ; but the Anglo-Portuguese negotiations stood in the way of 
the compact, and it lapsed. On his return, though much weakened 
by fever, he accepted the post of Administrator of Mashonaland, in 
succession to Mr. Archibald Colquhoun. The position was critical, 
for the Transvaal Boers were ready to trek across the Limpopo into 
the new territory. Dr. Jameson met them as they were preparing 
to cross the river. He had with him a troop of the Bechuanaland 
police. The Boers were numerous and well-armed. Bloodshed 
seemed unavoidable. But by dint of persuasion Dr. Jameson kept 
them on the other side of the river. The trekkers disbanded and 
the victory was his. This feat alone made his reputation. 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 285 

A Fine Administrator. 

Of his actual administration of Mashonaland, Mr. Selous — 
writing before the war— shall bear witness : *' I consider that it was a 
veritable inspiration that prompted Mr. Rhodes to ask his old friend 
Dr. Jameson to take over the arduous and difficult duties of admin- 
istrator of Mashonaland. Dr. Jameson has endeared himself to all 
classes of the community by his tact and good temper, and has 
managed all the diverse details connected with the administration of 
a new country with a correctness of judgment which amounts to 
nothing less than genius — and genius of a most rare and versatile 
order. He was the man for the position." 

Fighting- the IVIatabeles. 

What he did in the organization of the attack on the Matabeles 
is worthy to be recounted. His plans were formed with prompti- 
tude and thoroughness, and they were carried into effect under his 
personal direction with a precision and success rare indeed in 
African native warfare. Doubts may still exist in some quarters as 
to the real necessity for that campaign — doubts that were never 
shared by those who saw the slaughtered Mashonas in and about 
Fort Salisbury ; but none can exist as to the masterful capability, 
the foresight, and prudence of the man who brought it to so quick 
and dramatic a conclusion. His judgment was at least justified by 
success, and when he was given his C. B. they were few indeed who 
did not think that a higher distinction might well have been 
bestowed upon him. No wonder that it was incomprehensible to 
his friends, that a man with a career such as is here outlined should 
be guilty of a mere piece of desperate and inconsiderate rashness. 

How the Raid Began. 

The story of the raid begins with the following incident, which 
is declared to be absolutely authentic, coming from one who was 
present : 

One day, long before the very earliest hint of a beginning of 
the "complot," as shown by any evidence which is before the world, 
a man sat on the stoop of the Government House, Bulawayo, smoking 



2 86 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

cigarettes and reading a **Life of Clive." A rather short man (the 
novehst would tell us), whose head, growing a little bald, was 
noticeably broad and rather too noticeably squat ; what is called a 
bullet-headed man, in short, with a firm jaw, firm chin, short nose 
and mustache, keen eyes, and a general air of good-natured, forcible 
abruptness. 

This, of course, was Dr. Jim, officially known as His Honor, 
Leander Starr Jameson, M. D., C. B., Administrator of Matabe- 
leland. 

Suddenly, Jameson looked up from his book and exclaimed : 
"I have a jolly good mind to march straight down off the plateau 
with the men I have here and settle the thing out of hand. The 
idea of South Africa going on being trodden upon by this Pretoria 
gang is absurd. I have a good mind to get the fellows together and 
start to-morrow, via Tati." 

Inspired by Clive. 

Now, the men to whom Jameson referred were only about a 
couple of hundred mounted police, and the time that it would take 
them to carry out this airy programme, marching down off the 
plateau, would be two or three weeks, during which the national 
and international situation would be rather peculiar, the disbanding 
of the forces by cable, not to say the cancelling of the company's 
charter, being probable incidents of the march. 

Dr. Jim's interlocutor somewhat dryly pointed this out, and a 
little argument ensued. 

"Well," said Jameson at last, banging down the book on his 
knee, ''you may say what you like, but Clive would have done it." 

Does the germ of the whole inscrutable business lie between 
the leaves of Jameson's " Life of Clive " ? 

Preparations for the Raid. 

The uprising in the Transvaal was not due to a sudden ebulli- 
tion of feeling, but the outcome of influences that had been leaven- 
ing and moulding public thought at Johannesburg for years. Presi- 
dent Kruger, in his proclamation to the people of the Rand, after 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 287 

the raid, said : ''A small number of designing men, inside and out- 
side this country, have artfully stirred up the innocent inhabitants of 
Johannesburg, under the mask of fighting for political rights, and 
when in their madness they thought the moment had come, they 
chose a certain Dr. Jameson to cross the border of this Republic." 
It is evident, too, that the President of the Orange Free State enter- 
tained the same opinion, for, in an address to the Free State Volks- 
raad, he said that their delegates to Pretoria reported that Jame- 
son's papers showed that a huge scheme had been organized by the 
''chartered company" to subdue the Transvaal. The plot had been 
maturing for months, and the Rand agitation was made an excuse. 
There exists not the shadow of a doubt that active preparations for 
some such expedition were being made in the territories of the '' char- 
tered companies" for months before. A Scotsman in Bulawayo, 
writing to his mother in Edinburgh three months before the raid, 
said: ''There is a volunteer corps of over 900 men, of whom 500 
are mounted. They had a mounted parade this afternoon, and the 
turn-out and execution of drill was not at all bad, considering that 
over 200 had never been on a horse before. It is rumored about 
that the volunteers here and in Salisbury have been raised for some 
purpose ; but it is not certain what it is. If it is fighting, I am going 
to be in it. The pay is 10 shillings a day, all found, and I expect 
loot as well. It is causing great excitement here and everybody is 
on the tiptoe of excitement." Bulawayo, from which the letter was 
dated, is about 200 miles north of the Transvaal. It is situated in 
the centre of Matabeleland, and is the capital of the territory of the 
British South Africa Chartered Company. 

Recruiting a Motley Host. 

The following extracts from letters dated from Mafeking, the 
starting point of the expedition into the Transvaal, indicate the pre- 
parations made about the massing of men there for some sort of 
expedition, and surmises among the recruits that they were about to 
march on Johannesburg. A trooper in the British Bechuanaland 
Police, writing from Mafeking on November 3, 1895, that is two 
months before Dr. Jameson's defeat, wrote: "The British South 



\ 



288 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

Africa Company's police are taking on recruits of all sorts— men 
who have never had a horse or a Martini-Henry rifle before, and 
Dutchmen who cannot speak a word of English. There are some 
of these miscellaneous creatures here who are in a terrible funk, as 
some of our fellows have been laying on to them that they are going 
to fight at Molepolole." Writing on November lo, 1895 (^ week 
later), the writer said: "The British South African 'rookies' who 
have gone up are a fearfully mixed crew, including coolies and, what 
is worse, Bechuana Dutch. I made the acquaintance of a few of 
them, some straight from Manchester, and these provincial men 
can lie." 

Finally, on December 8, 1895, he wrote : " Rumor reports that 
we are to march on Johannesburg in January ! I hope it will not be 
another case of Majuba Hill. All the same I wonder what the move 
is. I should think there must be somethino^ in the wind." 

Another letter may be quoted, from an official In the leading 
colliery of the Orange Free State, near Kroonstadt. The letter was 
dated December 14, sixteen days previous to Dr. Jameson's march: 
"I suppose you have heard of the expected big row In Johannes- 
burg. I believe an insurrection of the Outlanders is on the tapis, 
and unless the Raad acts on a more liberal policy the pot will boll 
over and scald the whole lot. I know for a fact that a large number 
of Maxim guns have been Imported as mining machinery, and after 
the significant speech by Lionel Phillips, which no doubt you have 
read, matters are shaping themselves towards an end, which will 
probably oust the Boer from the seat of Government, and most 
likely add the richest province in the world to the British Empire. 
Good luck to it, say I ; and may the great unwashed be taught a 
stinging lesson for such intolerance. You had better hasten back to 
Johannesburg if you want some sport. Comment is superfluous." 

On the March. 

The troops trained by Dr. Jameson at Bulawayo set ofl" south- 
wards on an expedition, the destination of which was unknown to 
the men. They marched through the Chartered Company's terri- 
tory and British Bechuanaland, close by the western frontier of the 




o 
O 

bn 

u 
3 

c 
s 

O 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 289 

Transvaal, and were joined by contingents and recruits at the towns 
and villages through which they passed. In the early part of No- 
vember the forces were established in camps at Pitsani and Mafe- 
king, townships of Bechuanaland near the boundaries of the Trans- 
vaal ; and for six weeks their training was both continuous and 
severe. It was after leaving Pitsani — twenty miles west of Mafe- 
king — that the men were addressed and informed that they were 
going to the relief of Johannesburg. They were also told that they 
would be joined by Cape Mounted Rifles and 2000 volunteers from 
Johannesburg, as well as by a regiment from Cape Town. Pro- 
ceeding to Mafeking, they were joined by the Bechuana contingent, 
and on Monday afternoon, December 30, 1895, ^^e whole forces 
crossed the border, entering the territory of the Boers. 

Forthwith the Boer commandant at Fort Marico, situated on 
the frontier, dispatched a written order, asking Dr. Jameson and his 
forces to withdraw from Transvaal territory. In answer he sent 
the following reply : '' Dear Sir:— I am in receipt of your letter, and 
have to inform you that I intend proceeding with my original plans, 
which have no hostile intention against the people of the Transvaal ; 
but we are here in reply to an invitation from the principal residents 
of the Rand to assist them in their demand for justice and the ordi- 
nary rights of every citizen of civilized states. — I am, Sir, yours 
faithfully, L. S. Jameson." 

The force, consisting of about 500 men, with four Maxims and 
a few field-guns, proceeded on their way, galloping rapidly over the 
rolling, grassy downs. 

The Raid Condemned. 

On the news of the raid reaching the Colonial Office, in Lon- 
don, Mr. Chamberlain instantly wired to President Kruger, Sir 
Hercules Robinson and Mr. Cecil Rhodes, condemning a hostile 
invasion into the territory of a friendly state, and stating that such 
an action would be utterly repudiated by Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment. Sir H. Robinson, High Commissioner of Cape Colony, 
telegraphed at once to Jacobus De Wet, British Agent at Pretoria, 
as follows : *' I have heard that Dr. Jameson, with a force of Char- 

19 



290 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

tered Police, has entered the Republic en rcute for Johannesburg. 
I have telegraphed to inquire the truth. I may say that, If true, the 
step has been without my authority or cognizance. At once tele- 
graph that I repudiate such action, and direct force to return imme- 
diately." The High Commissioner at the same time telegraphed 
to the Commissioner at Mafeking as follows: ''It is rumored that 
Dr. Jameson has entered the Transvaal with an armed force. Is 
this so ? If so, send a messenger with a fast horse to direct him to 
return immediately. A copy of this telegram should be sent to 
officers with him. They should be told that violation of the terri- 
tory of a friendly state will be repudiated by her Majesty's Govern- 
ment, and that they render themselves liable to a severe penalty." 
A field cornet was dispatched on a fleet horse to overtake the 
troops, who were proceeding very rapidly. With difficulty, there- 
fore, he overtook them, delivered to them the High Commissioner's 
commands ; but, unfortunately, they appear to have disregarded it. 
The officers in charge were Dr. Jameson, Colonel Gray, Colonel 
White and Major Sir John Willoughby. 

Progress of the Raiders. 

Very early on Tuesday morning the armed troops passed the 
small township of Ottoshoop in the direction of the Rand. Three 
ridges of hills, running generally east and west, occupied the district 
in front of them. These ridges are respectively Magaliesbergen, 
Witwatersbergand Witwatersrand ; and through the two valleys run 
roads towards Pretoria, the seat of government. The expedition 
kept clear of the hills and valleys by proceeding along the southern 
slope of the Witwatersrand on the main road to Johannesburg, thus 
avoiding, as they thought, the likelihood of coming In conflict with 
the Boers. The march was continued, almost without Interruption, 
throughout Tuesday, Tuesday night and Wednesday (New Year's 
Day), till about two o'clock In the afternoon. 

Thus far they had encountered no opposition, and they were 
now within twenty-five miles of Johannesburg. The Boers were 
evidently cognizant of the movements of the expedition, and a 
strong force, numbering, it is thought, about 1500 men, took up a 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 29 1 

Strong position on the Johannesburg road at a spot about two miles 
west of the village of Krugersdorp. The Boers can be assembled 
for repelling a hostile band with marvelous rapidity. Every man in 
the country has his horse and rifle. The order goes out, and from 
all sides they come crowding to the scene of action like ants. They 
know every position of the country and follow up an enemy, shoot- 
ing them down with unerring aim, as they are wont to do with flying 
birds and wild animals bounding over the grassy veldt. 

The Battle of Krugersdorp. 

On Wednesday afternoon (New Year's Day), about three 
o'clock, Dr. Jameson's troopers came in contact with the Boers, 
who were posted in a strong position on the road, ready to repel 
their opponents. Sir John Willoughby appears to have led the first 
attack on the Boer position. He met with a slight reverse, losing 
a captain and nine men killed, nine men wounded, two officers and 
twelve men made prisoners. 

Dr. Jameson then attacked the Boer fort at George and May 
Mine, two miles north-west of Krugersdorp, a small mining town- 
ship, twenty-one miles west of Johannesburg. Fighting now became 
general, and continued from three in the afternoon till eleven at 
night, Dr. Jameson making three principal attacks, and doing some 
damage with his artillery. The Boers, who had no artillery up as 
yet, save an old seven-pounder, replied with rifle fire, and desultory 
firing went on at long rifle-range from both sides, till presently 
Colonel White, in charge of the advance guard of loo men, ordered 
it to advance and charge the Queen battery-house position. 

The Boers *' Lie Low." 

Whoever ordered the charge, it is dubious what the troopers 
charging were intended to do upon reaching the ridge. They had 
no swords, and could only have fallen upon the Boers with the butt 
ends of their rifles. The idea seems to have been that they had 
only to gallop forward and rush the position and the Boers would 
jump up and run away, exposing themselves to the fire of the 
troopers and making way for the column. However, the question 



292. THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

of what they should do when they reached the Boers was not des- 
tined to arise. The Boers, lying prone along the ridge, protected 
by stones and the lay of the ground, had no intention of getting up 
and exposing themselves. Most of them were protected by a line 
of rock " outcrop ; " a natural rampart which, in the geological forma- 
tion of the Transvaal, creates endless positions of defensive strength. 
Then, at the battery-house; there were the ''tailings," and south- 
ward there were the prospectors' trenches already mentioned, which, 
by the way, served in the sequel for burying some of the dead. 

While the artillery fire was rattling on to the ridge, the Boers 
lay low, cautiously refraining from any attempt to put up their heads 
and take aim. They stayed quite still where they were, having found 
that the shrapnel, though sending up dust and splinters of stones, 
burst harmlessly over them as they lay. The Boers say, as a matter 
of fact, not a single Boer was wounded here except one man who 
had the skin taken off his thumb and went on firing. This is simply 
explained. Shrapnel does not burst upward and downward, but 
opens out in a horizontal plane, fan-like. If the Boers had been 
obliging enough to stand up it would have cut them to pieces, but a 
very few inches of ground mixed with stones sufficed to break the 
projectiles when fired low, and when fired higher they simply passed 
over the Boers' heads. So tightly, however, did the shrewd farmers 
hug the ground that a galloper, after surveying the prostrate and 
motionless Boers at one end of their positions, reported to the 
column, "so many killed ; " and the apparent silencing of the ridge 
as a whole, led to the illusion that a charge would get through 
without difficulty. 

A Desperate Chargre. 

Between 2 and 3 o'clock, accordingly, the Boers on the ridge 
saw a sudden movement of the troops nearest them. A manoeuvre 
was executed which much impressed them for the moment. A 
narrow clump of men galloping toward them suddenly opened out 
at the word of command, to right and left, and came on in a single 
long straight line in open order. The Boer does not drill and has 
no manoeuvres, and he — for a moment — admired accordingly. On 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 293 

the charge came, about a hundred strong, with a ringing cheer, till 
from 1000 yards the range diminished to 500, 300, 200. At this 
point the riders splashed into vlei, and as they did so right along 
the ridge and from the flanking positions the Boers opened fire, 
emptying saddle after saddle. A score of men tumbled off. The 
frightened horses plunged and scattered. The men not killed or 
wounded stopped, jumped down, and replied to the hail of bullets, 
firing over the backs of their horses or from the ground. 

The charge was checked. A moment more and the cross-fire 
in the vlei was too hot to be withstood. 

The survivors turned around and galloped back, or crawled away 
into a clump of reeds at the side of the vlei for cover where they 
were shortly afterwards taken prisoners as they lay among the reeds. 
Some thirty prisoners were so taken, and during the night which 
followed the Boers carried away another thirty killed and wounded. 

As the stragglers from the charge got back to the column the 
officers took council together. The utter failure of the manoeuvre 
dashed the spirits of the troopers. It seemed that less than half of 
those who went had returned, and it takes very seasoned troops to 
treat a sacrifice of 60 per cent, with indifference. At 5 o'clock the 
Boers noticed the column in two parts turning off the road and 
making a move southward, evidently to turn the position. In this 
direction lie the farms Rendfontein and Viakfontein, which were the 
scene of the rest of the fighting. 

A Bad Night. 

That was a bad night for Dr. Jim. The High Commissioner's 
message had practically made him an outlaw, and Johannesburg was 
eighteen miles away. His column was encamped on a slope leading 
down to a stream, about two miles south, or to the right, of the first 
fighting position. Lights were out, but one was left in the ambulance 
wagons, where lay about thirty wounded or used-up men. Taking 
this light for a mark, the Boers went on firing into camp all night, 
killing or stampeding horses, and harassing the tired men. 

At 4 o'clock in the gray dawn Jameson despatched a second 
message for Johannesburg, a verbal one, for one of his men to carry 



294 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

through the Boer Hnes. But even then he was not going to make 
It a cry of despair. *'I am all right," was the effect of the message, 
**but I should like a force sent out to us." 

The End of the Game. 

Next morning the Boers took up a position at Vlakfontein, 
eight miles on the Johannesburg side of Krugersdorp, on a circui- 
tous road to the south, by which Dr. Jameson was marching. The 
Boers in the night had been reinforced both with men and with 
artiller}^ and with Maxims. Their position was an exceedingly 
strong one, on an open slope, but along a ridge of rocks cropping 
out of it. It was a right-angled position, and Dr. Jameson attacked 
them in the re-entering, having thus fire on his front and flank. To 
attack this position his men had to advance over a perfectly open, 
gently sloping, grassy down, while the Boers lay hid behind the 
rocks, and fired rifles, Maxims, and artillery upon their assailants. 
The position of the Boers was practically unassailable. Men and 
horses dropped on all sides. In the column the feeling grew that 
unless it could burst through the Boer lines at this point it was done 
for. The Maxims were fired till they grew too hot, and, water fail- 
ing for the cool jacket, five of them jammed and went out of action. 
The seven-pounder was fired till only half an hour's ammunition 
was left to fire with. One last rush was made and failed — ^and then 
the Staats Artillery came up on the left flank, and the game was up. 

How the Raiders Were Trapped. 

The fact is that, by mischance, or misled by the volunteer guides 
who were now found to have slipped away, the column was at the 
mouth of a cul de sac. It must either stop or throw itself at a rising 
ground with cover, flanked by other rising ground with cover. 
Doornkop, which has christened the battle, is an isolated kopje, or 
stony hill, conspicuous for a mile to two round; but it was not 
actually reached. It is a thousand yards further on in the direction 
the column was going. It was strongly held, and warm indeed 
would have been the reception of the luckless little force if it had 
come to rounding that hill. But what did the actual mischief was a 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 295 

flanking ridge, on the right (southern) flank, an abrupt low cliff, in 
which the Staats Artillery on the left (northern) flank came into play 
as the decisive factor. 

Of actual combatants at this time the Boers say they had only 
700 or 800. Indeed, the Boer legend swears that those closely en- 
gaged, apart from supports, were but fifty well-placed men ; while 
those who stopped the last charge were exactly seven ! The Boer 
legend adds that General Joubert found on inquiry at the hospital 
that all Jameson's wounded save one bore the spoor of a new pattern 
of rifle of which there were but fifty all told in the hands of burghers. 
Here, however, the records of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, 
which went up from Cape Town and evolved order from chaos at 
Krugersdorp, are available to explode the myth. They show that 
practically all the raiders' wounds were Martini-Henry. It was these 
seven champions, the Boers add, rather than the other fifty or the 
700 or 800 engaged all along the line, who commanded the little 
gap attempted by the last charge, and saving their fire till the 
troopers were close, killed six of them, and the last hope of the rest, 
together. The other troopers sought shelter again on the farrri, and 
shortly afterward, while the Staats Artillery from the other side was 
finding range, between 8 and 9 o'clock on Thursday, the 2d of 
January, 1896, a white flag was seen waving over Farmer Brink's 
outhouse. The so-called battle of Doornkop was at an end. 

The White Flag. 

And here must be recorded one more grotesque fact. Not 
even in its surrender was this raid fated to be romantic. The white 
flag used on this occasion was not, as a matter of fact, a torn shirt 
plucked from a weary trooper, but was the white apron of an old 
Hottentot "tanta" who was standing somewhere at hand on the farm, 
when it was borrowed from her to be waved as an emblem of peace. 

Jameson's Explanation. 

By permission of the ofiicer commanding the Boer forces, an 
interview with Dr. Jameson was obtained. The Doctor said: "I 
only crossed the frontier because of the earnest appeals addressed 



296 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

to me, and because I fully believed a large number 01 my country- 
men and countrywomen were in dire peril of their lives. It was 
only to save and protect them that I moved. I should have beaten 
the Boers if the Johannesburghers had made one effort to help 
themselves — if they had only made the effort which I was led to 
expect. But the help from Johannesburg did not reach us at Kru- 
gersdorp. We could not break through, and we fought until we 
were dropping from exhaustion and our ammunition was spent. 
The Boers were in strong position and force. We could not shift 
them. But if the Johannesburghers had only destroyed the line to 
Krugersdorp, which they could easily have done by tearing up the 
rails, it would have prevented supplies and ordnance being taken on 
to the entrenched Boers, and enabling them to hold out against our 
attacks. As it was, a special train with ammunition ran out to them 
from Johannesburg while the fight was going on, fully replenishing 
their supplies, whilst our own were rapidly diminishing." 

Treatment of the Raiders. 

The Chartered Company's men, when they surrendered, were 
entirely done up, some of them almost sleeping in their saddles as 
they were escorted to Krugersdorp. Then there was a scene that 
will not be forgotten. Boers freely mixed and talked with them. 
Provisions w^ere brought and devoured with ravenous hunger. In 
many cases the Boers gave up their own scant stock of provisions 
to the starving men, for whom they expressed the utmost admira- 
tion for their pluckiness. The Boers treated their prisoners with 
generosity. To repeat the words of the men who escaped: *'They 
treated us very w^ell. There was no jeering at us, or anything of that 
sort. One of them said he was sorry to shoot such young men, and 
my opinion is they were really sorry for us. They recognized that 
we were simply carrying out orders, and they did not conceal tlieir 
regard for the way in which we had done that." 

A Tell-Tale Letter. 

On the battlefield was found a letter, which turned out to be 
an invitation sent by the Reform Committee, to Dr. Jameson inviting 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 2g^ 

him to come to their assistance. It was signed by five leaders of 
the Reform Committee, and ran as follows : 

Johannesburg, December 28. 
Dr. Jameson — Dear Sir : The position of matters in this State 
has become so critical that at no distant period there will be a con- 
flict between the Government and the Outlander population. It is 
scarcely necessary for us to recapitulate what is now a matter of 
history. Suffice it that the position of thousands of Englishmen 
and others is rapidly becoming intolerable. Not satisfied with 
making the Outlanders pay virtually the whole of the revenue of the 
country, while denying them representation, the policy has been 
steadily to encroach upon the liberty of the subject, and to under- 
mine the security of property to such an extent as to leave a very 
deep-seated cause of discontent and danger. A foreign corporation 
of Hollanders is to a considerable extent controlling our destinies, and 
in conjunction with the Boer leaders is endeavoring to cast them in a 
mould which is wholly foreign to the genius of our people. Every 
public act betrays most positive hostility, not only to everything 
English, but to the neighboring states as well. In short, the internal 
policy of the Government is such as to have roused into antagonism 
not only practically the whole body of Outlanders, but a large num- 
ber of the Boers ; whilst its external policy has exasperated the 
neighboring states, causing possibility of great danger to the peace 
and independence of the Republic. Public feeling is in a condition 
of smouldering discontent. All the petitions of the people have 
been refused with a greater or less degree of contempt, and in de- 
bate on the franchise petition, signed by nearly 40,000 people, one 
member challenged the Outlanders to fight for the rights they asked 
for, and not a single member spoke against him. Not to go into 
details, we may say that the Government has called into existence 
all the elements necessary for an armed conflict. The one desire 
of the people here is for fair play and the maintenance of the inde- 
pendence and preservation of their public liberties, without which 
life is not worth having. The Government denies these things and 
violates the national sense of Englishmen at every turn. What we 



298 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

have to consider is, what will be the condition of things here In the 
event of a conflict with thousands of unarmed men, women and 
children of our race ? They will be at the mercy of well-armed 
Boers, while property of enormous value would be in the greatest 
peril. We cannot contemplate the future without the greatest 
apprehension, and feel that we are justified in taking steps to pre- 
vent the shedding of blood and to insure the protection of our 
rights. It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to 
call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here. 
The circumstances are so extreme that we cannot avoid this step, 
and we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not 
fail to come to the rescue of our people who would be so situated. 
We guarantee any expense that may be incurred by you in helping 
us, and ask you to believe that nothing but the sternest necessity 
has prompted this appeal. We are yours faithfully, 

(Signed) Charles Leonard, Francis Rhodes, 

Lionel Phillips, John Hays Hammond, 
George Farrar. 

Magrnanimity of President Kruger. 

One of the earliest telegrams after the defeat of the raid was 
forwarded from Pretoria by De Wet, the British agent there. He 
said: 'T waited on President Kruger, and take this early oppor- 
tunity of testifying in the strongest manner to the great moderation 
and forbearance of the Government of the South African Republic. 
Under the exceptionally trying circumstances, their attitude towards 
myself was everything I could wish. The prisoners have just 
arrived. Wounded of Jameson's force are over thirty, all at 
Krugersdorp, attended by doctors, and receiving attention." 

The Boers might have shot the captives as traitors, but in 
answer to Mr. Chamberlain, who sued for generous and merciful 
treatment of the prisoners. President Kruger promptly replied : '' I 
have given no orders to have the prisoners shot. Their case will, 
in due course, be decided strictly according to the traditions of this 
Republic, and in sharp contrast to the unheard-of proceedings of 
the freebooters. There will be no punishment inflicted upon them 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 299 

which is not in accordance with the law. In England so many lies 
and false reports are disseminated, even by the most influential 
newspapers, that I deem it advisable to add that the freebooters 
who have been taken prisoners have been treated by our burghers 
with the greatest consideration, notwithstanding the fact that they 
have more than once been forced to take up arms for the defense 
of the dearly-bought independence of our Republic." 

Mr. Chamberlain telegraphed to President Kruger in reply : *' I 
thank your Honor for your message, and for myself I have always 
felt confidence in your magnanimity." 

Handed Over to the British. 

A few days after the Colonial Secretary received from Sir 
Hercules Robinson a telegram, as follows : '' The President of the 
South African Republic has intimated his intention to hand over 
Jameson and the other prisoners to the High Commissioner on the 
borders of Natal." 

This act of moderation and clemency caused great joy in Eng- 
land, and the British press was unanimous in lauding this magnani- 
mous act. The "London Standard" said: ''The voluntary sur- 
render of Dr. Jameson by President Kruger to the English authori- 
ties in South Africa is an act of wise magnanimity, and will be 
appreciated at its full value in this country. We trust that the 
President has no claims in reserve that may cause public opinion to 
modify the favorable verdict at present pronounced upon his con- 
duct. So far he has behaved with great prudence and courage, and 
has exercised wise clemency ; and he may be quite certain that these 
are qualities Englishmen are quick to recognize and to admire." 

Queen Victoria, on learning of the release of the prisoners, 
caused an expression of her thanks to be forwarded through Sir H. 
Robinson to the President. The telegram was : "Give the follow- 
ng message to the President of the South African Republic for me : 
T have received the Queen's commands to acquaint you that Her 
Majesty has heard with satisfaction that you have decided to hand 
over the prisoners to Her Government. This act will redound to 
the credit of your Honor, and will conduce to the peace of South 



300 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 

Africa, and to that harmonious co-operation of the British and 
Dutch races which is necessary for it;s future development and 
prosperity.' " 

Punishment of the Raiders. 

The leaders of the raid were taken to England and put on trial 
for their offense. They were duly convicted, and condemned to 
terms of imprisonment, which were duly served. 

But that was not the end of the case. The members of the 
Outlanders' Reform Committee at Johannesburg were arrested for 
complicity in the raid, and taken to Pretoria for trial under the law 
of the Transvaal. Their trial began on February 3, 1896. 

The prisoners included Mr. Charles Leonard, Chairm.an of the 
Transvaal National Union ; Mr. Lionel Phillips, Chairman of the 
Chamber of Mines ; Colonel Rhodes, brother of Mr. Cecil Rhodes ; 
Messrs. John Hays Hammond, Strange, Newham, Hlllier, Bell, etc. 
The indictment charged the prisoners with inciting to rebellion and 
with high treason. 

The end of the trial was that the prisoners were convicted. 
The four leaders, Messrs. Leonard, Phillips, Rhodes and Hammond, 
the last-named an American citizen, were condemned to death, and 
to the confiscation of their fortunes to the State. The severity of 
this sentence shocked the world. Strenuous remonstrances against 
it were made in the United States and elsewhere. And in the end. 
President Kruger deemed it best to yield to the demands of human- 
ity. He spared the lives of the prisoners, but exacted from them 
fines of $100,000 each. 

The Transvaal's Bili. 

A year later the Transvaal Government submitted to Great 
Britain a bill for damages alleged to have been sustained through 
the raid. It was as follows : 

(a) Material damages £ ^11^91^ 3 3 

(b) Moral and intellectual damages . . . 1,000,000 o o 

Total /i, 677,938 3 3 

It was at the same time stated by the Boer Government that 
this sum did not Include '' the lawful claims which might be made by 



THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 3OI 

private persons by reason of the action of Dr. Jameson and his 
troops." 

The First Item. 

The first item of the claim set forth above was detailed under 
nine heads, as follows: 

1. Expenditure for Military and Commando ser- 

vices in connection with the incursion . , . ^136,733 4 3 

2. Compensation to the Netherlands South Afri- 

can Railway Company for making use of 
the railway worked by it during the Com- 
mando 9,500 o o 

3. Disbursements to surviving relatives of slain 

and wounded 234 19 6 

4. For annuities, pensions and disbursements to 

widows and children of slain Burghers, and 
to relatives of unmarried slain Burghers, as 
also to wounded Burghers ....... 28,243 o o 

5. Expenses of the Telegraph Department, for 

more overtime, more telegrams, on service 
in South African communication, more cable- 
grams, &c 4,692 II 9 

6. Hospital expenses for the care of wounded and 

sick men, &c., of Dr. Jameson 225 o o 

7. For support of members of families of com- 

mandeered Burghers during the Commando, 177 8 8 

8. Compensation to be paid the commandeered 

Burghers for their services, and the troubles 

and cares brought on them . . .. . . . 462,120 o o 

9. Account of expenses of the Orange Free State, 36,01 1 19 1 1 

^677,938 3 3 
Such a bill, of more than ^3,385,000, for a four days' campaign 
against 500 men, was regarded in England as absurdly extortionate, 
and of course, was never paid. 



CHAPTER XXIV, 



Renewed Agitation— The Outlander Petition— The Mining Industry 
Interference with Justice— Conduct of the Police— Summary of 
Grievances— The Right of Public Meeting— The Reply to the 
Petition— Arrests by the Boers— Failure of the Confer- 
ence—Schemes and Counter-Schemes— Suggesting 
Another Conference— The Final British Pro- 
posal—Acceptance Urged — The Offer 
Rejected — Attitude of the Orange 
State. 



FOLLOWING the Jameson raid came a period of comparative 
quiet. The British Government and the Outlanders realized 
that it was best to let the bitterness aroused by the raid die out 
a little before resuming negotiations with the Transvaal for 
political reforms. The Transvaal Government, on its part, pursued 
the even tenor of its way, so far as outward appearances went, but 
in secret made the most eager and thorough preparations for the 
final struggle, which it now perceived to be near at hand. 

The next important move was the great Outlander petition to 
the Queen. 

The Outlander Petition. 

The following is the text of the Outlander petition, presented 
to the Queen in March, 1899 : 

''For a number of years, prior to 1896, considerable discontent 
existed among the Outlander population of the South African Re- 
public, caused by the manner in which the Government of the coun- 
try was being conducted. The great majority of the Outlander 
population consists of British subjects. It was, and is, notorious 
that the Outlanders have no share in the government of the country, 
although they constitute an absolute majority of the inhabitants of 
the State, possess a very large proportion of the land, and represent 
the intellect, wealth, and energy of the State. The feelings of 

(302) 



RENEWED AGITATION. 3O3 

intense Irritation which have been aroused by this state of things 
have been aggravated by the manner in which remonstrances have 
been met. Hopes have been held out and promises have been made 
by the Government of the State from time to time, but no practical 
amelioration of the conditions of life has resulted. Petitions, signed 
by large numbers of your Majesty's subjects, have been repeatedly 
addressed to the Government of the State, but have failed of their 
effect, and have even been scornfully rejected. At the end of 1895 
the discontent culminated^m an armed insurrection against the Gov 
ernment of the State, which, however, failed of its object. On that 
occasion the people of Johannesburg placed themselves unreservedly 
in the hands of Your Hio-h Commissioner, in the fullest confidence 
that he would see justice done to them. On that occasion, also. 
President Kruger published a proclamation in which he again held 
out hopes of substantial reforms. Instead, however, of the admitted 
grievances being redressed, the spirit of the legislation adopted by 
the Volksraad during the past few years has been ofa most un- 
friendly character, and has made the position of the Outlanders 
more irksome than before. In proof of the above statement. Your 
Majesty's petitioners would humbly refer to such measures as the 
following : The Immigration of Aliens Act (Law 30, of 1896) ; The 
Press Law (Law 26, of 1896) ; The Aliens' Expulsion Law of 1896. 
''Of these, the first was withdrawn, at the instance of your 
Majesty's Government, as being an Infringement of the London 
Convention of 1884. 

The Miningr Industry, 

''Notwithstanding the evident desire of the Government to 
legislate solely In the Interest of the burghers, and Impose undue 
burdens on the Outlanders, there was still a hope that the declaration 
of the President on the 30th of December, 1896, had some meaning, 
and that the Government would duly consider grievances properly 
brought before Its notice. Accordingly, In the early part of 1897 
steps were taken to bring to the notice of the Government the 
alarming depression of the mining 't^^-"".;,, and the reasons which, 
in the opinions of men well qualified to judge, had led up to It The 



304 RENEWED AGITATION. 

Government at last appointed a Commission consisting of his own 
officials, which was empowered to inquire into the industrial con- 
ditions of the mining population, and to suggest such a scheme for 
the removal of existing grievances as might seem advisable and 
necessary. On the 5th of August the Commission issued their 
report, in which the reasons for the then state of depression were 
duly set forth, and many reforms were recommended as necessary 
for the well-being of the community. Among them it will be suffi- 
cient to mention the appointment of an Industrial Board, having its 
seat in Johannesburg, for the special supervision of the Liquor 
Law, and the Pass Law, and to combat the illicit dealing in gold and 
amalgam. The Government refused to accede to the report of the 
Commission, which was a standing indictment against its adminis- 
tration in the past, but referred the question to the Volksraad, 
which in turn referred it to a Select Committee of its own members. 
The result created consternation in Johannesburg, for, whilst abating 
in some trifling respects burdens which bore heavily on the mining 
industry, the Committee of the Raad, ignoring the main recommen- 
dations of the Commission, actually advised an increased taxation 
of the country, and that in a way which bore most heavily on the 
Outlander. The suggestions of the Committee were at once 
adopted, and the tariff increased accordingly. 

Interference With Justice. 

** At the beginning of 1897, the Government went a step fur- 
ther in their aggressive policy towards the Outlander, and attacked 
the independence of the High Court which, until then. Your Ma- 
jesty's subjects had regarded as the sole remaining safeguard of 
their civil rights. Early in that year Act No. i was rushed through 
the Volksraad with indecent haste. This high-handed act was not 
allowed to pass without criticism ; but the Government, deaf to all 
remonstrance, threatened reprisals on those professional men who 
raised their voices in protest, and finally, on the i6th of February, 
1898, dismissed the Chief Justice, Mr. J. G. Kotze, for maintaining 
his opinions. His place was filled shortly afterwards by Mr. Gre- 
gorowski, the judge who had been specially brought from the 




Principal British Officers. 




Boer Prisoners on the way to Pietermaritzburg. 



RENEWED AGITATION. 305 

Orange Free State to preside over the trial of the reform prisoners 
in 1896, and who, after the passing of the Act above referred to, 
had expressed an opinion that no man of self-respect would sit on 
the bench whilst that law remained on the statute book of the 
Republic. All the judges at the time this law was passed con- 
demned it in a formal protest, publicly read by the Chief Justice in 
the High Court, as a gross interference with the independence of 
that tribunal. That protest has never been modified or retracted, 
and of the five judges who signed the declaration three still sit 
on the bench. 

Conduct of the Police. 

*'The constitution and personnel of the police force is one of 
the standing menaces to the peace of Johannesburg. It has already 
been the subject of remonstrance to the Government of this Repub- 
lic, but hitherto without avail. An efficient police force cannot be 
drawn from a people such as the burghers of this State ; neverthe- 
less, the Government refuses to open its ranks to any other class of 
the community. As a consequence, the safety of the lives and 
property of the inhabitants is confided in a large measure to the 
care of men fresh from the country districts, who are unaccustomed 
to town life, and ignorant of the ways and requirements of the 
people. When it is considered that this police force is armed with 
revolvers in addition to the ordinary police truncheons, it is not sur- 
prising that, instead of a defense, they are absolutely a danger to 
the community at large. Encouraged and abetted by the example 
of their superior officers, the police have become lately more aggres- 
sive than ever in their attitude towards British subjects. As, how- 
ever, remonstrances and appeals to the Government were useless, 
the indignities to which your Majesty's subjects were daily exposed 
from this source had to be endured as best they might. Public 
indignation was at length fully roused by the death, at the hands of 
a police-constable, of a British subject named Tom Jackson Edgar. 
The circumstances of this affair were bad enough in themselves, but 
were accentuated by the action of the Public Prosecutor, who, 
although the accused was charged with murder, on his own initiative 

20 



306 RENEWED AGITATION. 

reduced the charge to that of culpable homicide only, and released 
the prisoner on the recognizances of his comrades in the police 
force, the bail being fixed originally at ^200, or less than the amount 
which is commonly demanded for offenses under the Liquor Law, 
or for charges of common assault. 

Summary of Grievances. 

''The condition of Your Majesty's subjects in the State has 
Indeed become wellnlgh Intolerable. The acknowledged and admit- 
ted grievances of which Your Majesty's subjects complain prior to 
1895 ^ot only are not redressed, but exist to-day in an aggravated 
form. They are still deprived of all political rights, they are denied 
any voice in the government of the country, they are taxed far above 
the requirements of the country, the revenue of which is misapplied 
and devoted to objects which keep alive a continuous and well- 
founded feeling of irritation, without In any way advancing the general 
interest of the State. Maladministration and peculation of public 
moneys go hand in hand without any vigorous measures being 
adopted to put a stop to the scandal. The education of Outlander 
children is made subject to Impossible conditions. The police afford 
no adequate protection to the lives and property of the inhabitants 
of Johannesburg ; they are rather a source of danger to the peace 
and safety of the Outlander population. 

The Right of Public Meeting. 

'' A further grievance has become prominent since the beginning 
of the year. The power vested in the Government by means of the 
Public Meetings Act has been a menace to Your Majesty's subjects 
since the enactment of the act in 1894. This power has now been 
applied In order to deliver a blow that strikes at the inherent and 
inalienable birthright of every British subject, namely, his right to 
petition his sovereign. Straining to the utmost the language and 
intention of the law, the Government has arrested two British 
subjects who assisted in presenting a petition to Your Majesty on 
behalf of 4000 fellow-subjects. Not content with this, the Govern- 
ment, when Your Majesty's loyal subjects again attempted to lay 



RENEWED AGITATION. 307 

their grievances before Your Majesty, permitted their meeting to be 
broken up and the objects of it to be defeated by a body of Boers, 
organized by Government officials and acting under the protection 
of the poHce. By reason, therefore, of the direct, as well as the 
indirect, act of the Government, Your Majesty's loyal subjects have 
been prevented from publicly ventilating their grievances, and from 
laying them before Your Majesty. 

'^ Wherefore Your Majesty's humble petitioners humbly beseech 
your most Gracious Majesty to extend Your Majesty's protection to 
Your Majesty's loyal subjects resident in this State, and to cause an 
inquiry to be made into grievances and complaints enumerated and 
set forth in this humble petition, and to direct your Majesty's rep- 
resentative in South Africa to take measures which will secure the 
speedy reform of the abuses complained of, and to obtain substan- 
tial guarantees from the Government of this State for a recognition 
of their rights as British subjects." 

That memorial, which was forwarded to Mr. Chamberlain on 
March 28, bore the signatures of 2 1,684 Britishers ^^ Johannesburg. 

The Reply to the Petition. 

On May 5 Sir Alfred Milner cabled a long dispatch to the 
Colonial Secretary in which he endorsed the memorial in every^ 
single particular, and reviewed the whole situation in the clearest 
terms. He described in a famous passage the condition of the 
Outlanders as that of helots, declared that " the case for intervention 
was overwhelming," and asserted that '* the true remedy was to 
strike at the root of all these injuries — the political impotence of the 
injured." Five days afterwards Mr. Chamberlain sent a dispatch to 
Sir Alfred Milner defining the attitude of the Imperial Government 
recalling Mr. Kruger's sheaf of broken promises, and declaring that 
" while most unwilling to depart from their attitude of reserve and 
expectancy, but having regard to the position of Great Britain as the 
paramount power in South Africa, and the duty incumbent upon 
them to protect all British subjects residing in a foreign country, the 
British Government cannot permanently ignore the exceptional and 
arbitrary treatment to which their fellow-countrymen and others are 



308 RENEWED AGITATION. 

exposed, and the absolute indifference of the Government of the 
Republic to the friendly representations which have been made to 
them on the subject." The dispatch concluded with the suggestion 
of a conference. It so happened that on the same day Sir Alfred 
telegraphed a similar proposal to Mr. Chamberlain, and on the 
invitation of President Steyn, Mr. Kruger and the High Commissioner 
arranged to meet at Bloemfontein on May 31. 

Arrests by the Boers. 

On the eve of the conference the Boers made a number <A 
arrests for high treason at Johannesburg, but subsequent eve/rcs 
proved that the whole " conspiracy " was hatched by the Boers 
themselves, in order to bring odium upon the reform movement. 
Most of the '' conspirators " were in the pay of the secret service 
spies, and as soon as the truth was out the Government made haste 
to drop the prosecutions. 

Failure of the Conference. 

As will be remembered, the conference proved a failure. Sir 
Alfred Milner pressed for a new franchise law, and stipulated : 
I. That the number of years for the acquisition of the franchise 
should be fixed at five, with retroactive effect ; 2. That the nat- 
uralization oath should be modified ; 3. That a fair representa- 
tion should be granted the new population ; 4. That naturaliza- 
tion should immediately carry with it the full right to vote. His 
Honor met this by saying that it was " tantamount to handing 
over his country to foreigners," but at length he submitted coun- 
ter-proposals, full of technicalities and qualifications, which the High 
Commissioner declared to be '' quite inadequate to the needs of the 
case." Under the President's scheme no man not already natural- 
ized, however long he might have been in the country, could get a 
vote under two and a half years from the passing of the new law, 
and no considerable number of people would obtain it under five 
years even if they got naturalized, which they would not do as the 
scheme retained the principle first introduced in 1890, constraining 
a man to abandon his old citizenship for a number of years before 



RENEWED AGITATION. 3O9 

getting full burgher rights. Nor was there any provision made for 
the representation of the new burghers in the First Volksraad, and 
when, on June 5, the President said his proposal '' went as far as was 
possible in the interest of the people and the States," the confer- 
ence broke up. 

Schemes and Counter-Schemes. 

Returning to Pretoria, Mr. Kruger submitted his draft scheme, 
with a few minor alterations, to the Volksraad, by which it was hur- 
riedly passed, in spite of the request of the British Government that 
no definite decision should be reached. On June 26, Mr. Chamber- 
lain made a speech at Birmingham in which he once more vigor- 
ously reiterated the facts of the situation, and declared that Sir 
Alfred Milner's terms were the minimum which the Government 
could accept, while on June 30 he instructed Sir Alfred Milner to 
give the Boers clearly to understand that no franchise would be ac- 
cepted which did not bestow upon the Outlanders some genuine rep- 
resentation in the First Volksraad at once. Early in July, resolu- 
tions were passed by the Outlander Council to the effect that the 
President's franchise proposals were ''totally inadequate and quite 
unacceptable," and practically nothing was done throughout the 
month to effect a solution of the deadlock. 

On July 12, a new franchise law was introduced into the Raad, 
which, inter alia, provided that "each person who has come to the 
South African Republic to stay before the coming into force of this 
law shall, on fulfilment of the provisions of Article i, be able to ob- 
tain letters of naturalization with the full franchise nine years after 
his coming into the country, or five years after the coming into force 
of this law, provided that in the last case a period of not less than 
seven years has elapsed since his coming into the country." This 
was modified before being accepted, and the words " at least seven," 
were substituted for " nine," and the words from '* or five years " to 
the end of the clause were deleted. Sir Alfred Milner, in criticising 
the bill, wrote on July 26 : ''The bill, as it stands, leaves it practi- 
cally in the hands of the South African Republic to enfranchise or 
not enfranchise the Outlanders, as it chooses. If worked in a liberal 



310 RENEWED AGITATION. 

Spirit, its clumsy and unreasonable provisions may be got ovr. But 
if it is to be enforced rigidly, there will be practically unlimited op- 
portunities of excluding persons whom the Government may con- 
sider undesirable, nor does the tone of the debate in the Raad leave 
much doubt as to the spirit in which some at least of the authors of 
the bill would like to see it worked," 

Suggesting" Another Conference. 

At length, on July 31, Mr. Chamberlain authorized Sir Alfred 
Milner to invite President Kruger to appoint delegates to discuss 
the reforms passed by the Volksraad, and see whether they would 
give the Outlanders immediate and substantial representation. That 
is to say, he suggested another conference. 

Nearly three weeks elapsed before President Kruger replied, 
and it was not until August 19 that the Boer Government de- 
clared their willingness to recommend to the Volksraad a five years' 
retrospective franchise and eight new seats in the First Volksraad 
for the Witwatersrand, but only on condition that (i) the British 
Government should not interfere again in the internal affairs of the 
Republic ; (2) that they should no longer insist on the assertion of 
suzerainty ; and (3) that arbitration (from which foreign element other 
than Orange Free State was to be excluded) should be conceded. 

In answer to this, on August 28, Mr. Chamberlain stated that 
he hoped intervention would be unnecessary in the future, but that 
as to the demand for the dropping of the suzerainty he must hold 
by his previous declarations. To the suggestion of arbitration her 
Majesty's Government agreed, but he added that there were other 
questions at issue unsuitable for submission to arbitration, and 
pressed for an acceptance of the proposed conference. On Septem- 
ber 2, the reply of the Transvaal Government to this dispatch was 
handed to Mr. Conyngham Greene, the British agent at Pretoria. 
While conditionally agreeing to send delegates to Cape Town, the 
Boers withdrew their latest franchise proposals, and the whole 
position was again reduced to a deadlock. 

It may be pointed out that the passage in this dispatch of April 
16, 1898, to which reference is made, is as follows: The Boers 



RENEWED AGITATION. 3II 

claimed absolute self-government as *'the inherent right of the Re- 
public as a sovereign international State." Sir Alfred Milner's 
comment at the time was that it was *' in the nature of a defiance 
of the British Government." 

The Final British Proposal. 

Such being the situation when the British Cabinet assembled, 
on September 8th, the Ministers decided on addressing a further 
dispatch to the Transvaal Government, reiterating the British 
demands plainly and temperately, while requesting an unequivocal 
and immediate answer. At the same time the Cabinet resolved on 
sending substantial reinforcements — an Indian contingent of 10,000 
men — to South Africa, so as to redress the military inequality 
between the parties, to disabuse the Boers of the idea that they 
were bluffing; also to protect British colonies against possible raids. 
This dispatch was read in the Volksraad on September 12th, and 
was at first rumored to be an ultimatum leading to immediate war. 
When published, however, it was seen to be not only moderate in 
tone but likewise moderate in character, so much so that those who 
were most anxious to curse Mr. Chamberlain relapsed into blessing 
Lord Salisbury. While refusing to buy a Franchise Bill from the 
Transvaal Government by waiving Great Britain's claim to the 
suzerainty and according the Transvaal the status of "a Sovereign 
International State," Her Majesty's Government declared their wil- 
lingness to accept the last Franchise Bill offered by the Boers, pro- 
vided it were not ''encumbered by conditions which will nullify the 
intention to give substantial immediate representation to the Out- 
landers," and on the assumption that, "as stated by the British 
agent, the new members of the Volksraad would be permitted to 
use their own language." The proposed bill was to this effect: 

1. A five years' franchise. 

2. A quarter representation in the Volksraad for the gold- 
fields. 

3. Equality of the Dutch and English in the Volksraad. 

4. Equality of the old and new burghers in regard to presi- 
dential and other elections. 



312 RENEWED AGITATION. 

Acceptance Urged. 

The publication of the EngHsh note to the Government of 
Pretoria was followed by a widespread recognition of its reasonable- 
ness and a general chorus of exhortation to the Boers to accept it. 
In the first place, the " South African News," the organ of the Afri- 
kander Ministry in Cape Colony, urged the Transvaal seriously to 
consider the proposals of the Imperial Government, and pointed 
out that there was no injustice in a five years' franchise. While 
admitting that the conduct of Great Britain had been marked by 
misapprehension of the state of things in the Transvaal, the ''South 
African News " urged the Republic to remember that Great Britain 
owed a responsibility to the people of South Africa. It concluded 
by earnestly counseling the Transvaal to think long and solemnly 
before taking a step by which it would lose the priceless benefit of 
arbitration. " Mr. Chamberlain," it added, *' says things with some 
want of tact, but let the Transvaal reflect that Australia, Canada, 
and the Cape are not sovereign States, yet Great Britain never 
dreams of interferring with them." A caucus meeting of Afri- 
kanders, held in Cape Town, appears to have arrived at a similar 
decision, which was reflected in an article in Mr. Hofmeyr's paper, 
"0ns Land," and also in an urgent representation made by the 
bond president to President Kruger. 

The Offer Rejected. 

In spite of this advice from all quarters, the Transvaal Govern- 
ment returned an unfavorable and uncompromising reply to the 
demands of Her Majesty's Government. 

On receiving the refusal, Her Majesty's Government were com- 
mitted by the terms of their previous dispatch to reconsider the 
whole Transvaal problem de novo. For this purpose a Cabinet 
Council was held on September 22. Prior to its meeting there had 
been an ominous development on the part of the Orange Free 
State. Sir Alfred Milner had sent a very courteous and friendly 
telegram (September 19) to President Steyn (Orange Free State), 
of which the following are the important passages : 



RENEWED AGITATION. 313 

" I have the honor to inform your Honor that it has been deemed 
advisable by the Imperial military authorities to send a detachment 
of troops ordinarily stationed at Cape Town to assist in securing 
the line of communication between the colony and the British terri- 
tories to the north. As the force, or a portion of it, may be stationed 
near the borders of the Free State, I think it desirable to acquaint 
your Honor with the movement and the reasons thereof, in order 
to prevent misconception on the part of the burghers of the Free 
State as to the object which the military authorities have in view. 
The movement in question is in no way directed against the Free 
State, nor is it due to any anxiety as to the intentions of the Free 
State, as I rest fully satisfied with the declarations contained in your 
Honor's letter of August i6. 

" I take this opportunity of making a general statement of the 
attitude of the Imperial Government at the present juncture, which, 
in view of the many misapprehensions current on the subject, the 
Imperial Government have authorized me to convey to your Honor. 
The Imperial Government are still hopeful of a friendly settlement 
of the differences which have arisen between them and the Trans- 
vaal. But if this hope should, unfortunately, be disappointed, the 
Imperial Government look to the Free State to preserve strict neu- 
trality and to prevent military intervention by any of its citizens. 
They are prepared to give formal assurances that in that case the 
integrity of the Free State territory will be strictly respected under 
all circumstances. So far as the Imperial Government are aware 
there is absolutely no cause to justify any disturbance of the friendly 
relations between Great Britain and the Free State. The Imperial 
Government are animated by the most friendly sentiments towards 
the Free State, and it is entirely untrue that they desire to impair 
the independence of the Republic." 

Attitude of the Orange State. 

To this communication, President Steyn replied as follows : 
'Tn reply to your Excellency's telegram of to-day, I share your 
Excellency's hopefulness that a friendly settlement of the differences 
which have arisen between the Imperial Government and the Trans- 



314 RENEWED AGITATION. 

vaal will be arrived at. I cannot even now see that those differences 
justify the use of force as the only solution. Both on this account, 
and seeing the existing state of tension here as elsewhere in South 
Africa, I regret the intention of the Imperial Government to send a 
detachment of troops ordinarily stationed at Cape Town northward 
with the view of having the same, or a portion thereof, stationed 
near the border of the Free State. While the Free State will still 
continue to do all in its power to allay excitement, I cannot help im- 
pressing upon your Excellency the fact that if the proposed course 
is pursued, following as it will upon other military preparations near 
the borders, it is not improbable that it will be considered by the 
burghers as a menace to the Free State, and in any case will natur- 
ally create a strong feeling of distrust and unrest. If any unwished- 
for development should arise therefrom, the responsibility would 
not rest with this Government. 

"I will submit your Excellency's telegram to the Volksraad on 
Thursday. Meanwhile I beg to assure your Excellency that this 
Government would view with deep regret any disturbance of those 
friendly relations which have hitherto existed between Great Britain 
and this State." 

President Steyn followed up this telegram with a long speech 
in the Free State Raad, containing an attack on Mr. Conyngham 
Greene, and accusing the British Government of bad faith. He 
was disinclined to advise the Transvaal to accept the British de- 
mands and he had convened the Raad because it could not be a 
matter of indifference to them to see the Transvaal in trouble. The 
Free State was bound by treaty to afford assistance to the Trans- 
vaal, and it was for the Raad to determine the Republic's attitude. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



General Joubert's Address to Queen Victoria— The Boer's Discontent 
— Tiie 1815 Rebellion— The Trek from the Colony— The Dangers of 
the Wilderness— First Kaffir Engagement— Ill-Fated Trekkers 
—The Dingaan Massacre— Visit of Captain Jarvis— Defeat of 
Dingaan — The English Occupation — Emigrant Boers 
Resist— Antagonism to British Rule— The Boomplaats 
Engagement— Sand River Treaty— The Disruption 
—War with England— The Retrocession— Dis- 
covery of Gold— Discontent in Johannes- 
burg—Mr. Chamberlain's Statements. 



N the preceding chapter we have given the text of the Outlanders' 
petition to the Queen. Let us now peruse an equally memora- 
ble document — the petition addressed to the Queen by General 
Joubert, the Vice-President of the Transvaal Republic. We may 
accept it as the best available statement of the whole case from the 
Boers' pc^int of view : 

Pretoria, June 15, 1899. 
To Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ire- 
land, Empress of India, etc., etc. 

Your Majesty :— It is with feelings of deepest pain and dis- 
tress that the undersigned ventures to address Your Most Gracious 
Majesty at this critical period, and in view of the dark future which, 
as a cloud, is hovering over South Africa, the land of his birth and 
home. This unhappy situation has been brought about by the un- 
just action of one of your Majesty's Ministers, who, perhaps, in 
good faith, though upon incorrect information, has allowed himself 
to be led by unscrupulous fortune-seekers, reckless speculators, and 
insatiable capitalists. 

This matter will be reverted to again during the course of this 
letter by your Majesty's lowly petitioner, who desires first, in all 

(315) 



3l6 GENERAL JOUBERT's ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

humility, to make known to your Majesty who he is. He is a de- 
scendant of, and great-great-grandson of, Pierre Joubert, one of the 
Huguenots, who, because of their reHgious belief, were obliged to 
leave their homes and friends, and to seek refuge from persecu- 
tion in flight to South Africa, where they could serve their God in 
freedom. He settled at Fransch Hoek, near Cape Town, which was 
then under the administration of the " HoUandsche Compagnie," 
and became soon, through the blessing of God, one of the richest 
and most influential farmers and landowners there. He resided 
there until compelled by circumstances to remove to the district of 
Graafl'-Reinet, where he now lies buried — in the land of my birth, 
that passed for good under the rule of Great Britain in 1806. 

Alas ! What has our nation not experienced and suffered under 
that rule ! It has, perhaps, never been brought to your Majesty's 
notice why these people could not live peaceably in their land of 
adoption and birth. And yet, who is there now to tell you thereof? 
And how would he bemn ? It would, indeed, be tedious to relate 
everything minutely, your Majesty. 

The Boer's Discontent. 

The discontent so often, and to his detriment, ascribed to the 
Boer was exaggerated and misrepresented, as, for instance, in the 
matter of the freeing of the slaves, when he was described as being 
inhumanly against their liberation. No ! your Majesty, it was not 
the Christian Boer's repugnance to the emancipation, but his oppo- 
sition to the means employed in effecting same under the blessed 
British rule. Is your Majesty perhaps aware how the Boers became 
possessed of those slaves ? They, the Boers, had no ships to con- 
vey the slaves from Mozambique and elsewhere, as none other than 
English vessels were allowed to bring slaves to the Cape market ; 
therefore, it was from English slave ships that the Boers first bought 
their slaves, and in this manner enjoyed a short season of pros- 
perity ; for, assisted by their dearly-bought slaves, they could have 
their lands plowed and sown with grain, which, under the blessings 
of Britannia's laws, could be sold for not more than 18 pence per 
bag. It was thereafter shipped abroad by English merchants and 



GENERAL JOUBERT*S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 317 

sold at immense profits. And then, Your Majesty, the Boer was 
suddenly told: ''Your slaves are free, and you will receive compen- 
sation to such and such an amount for them, which you will have to 
go and get in England." Your Majesty, how could the Boer be ex- 
pected, with his ox-wagon or horses, to go and fetch same? To have 
undertaken at that time a voyage so dangerous and lengthy (loo 
days or so being the time required to accomplish same), would have 
cost more than the small amount of the indemnity he was to receive 
for his dearly bought slaves. What could the Boer do? The only 
means left him was to engage the English dealer, from whom he had 
purchased the slaves at exorbitant prices, to go and fetch the money 
for him, or to sell his chance for what he could get. 

How many unscrupulous agents and merchants took advantage 
of the opportunity thus offered, not to reconcile the Boer to the law 
and authority of the British Government, but to carry out their own 
designs in order to satisfy their cupidity, thus nurturing the hostility 
of the Boer against the Government, hoping thereby eventually to 
acquire possession of his lands ? 

The 1815 Rebellion. 

The population increasing, spread out farther and farther, 
gradually enlarging the colony ; and it is, perhaps, known to Your 
Majesty how the poor Boers on the frontiers fared, how they were 
robbed of their cattle, and how, owing to the insufficient protection 
afforded them, they were often left to their fate, or more frequently 
persecuted and oppressed, so that it is not to be wondered at 
(although I do not seek to justify their conduct), that, disgusted and 
dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to them, they at last 
rebelled against the Government, thus originating what took place 
in 1 81 5, and ended so disastrously. For, as Your Majesty is perhaps 
aware, matters had reached such a pitch that a collision between the 
British troops and British subjects at length resulted over the quarrel 
of a Boer with a semi-civilized native, which unfortunate incident 
has imparted to the place where the British took such extreme 
measures against the Boers, an irreconcilable and ever-to-be-remem- 
bered name — ''Slachtbank," or "Slachtersnek," which it still bears. 



3l8 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

Alas ! Your Majesty, what had the Boer not to suffer then, under 
the otherwise glorious British rule? Inquire of the border settlers 
of 1820 to 1834, when their eventful departure from the Colony took 
place. It is, perhaps, known to Your Majesty how they were driven 
back from the boundaries by the natives, who pursued them far into 
the country, harassing and molesting them. Yes, even murdering 
some, robbing them of their cattle, and burning and laying waste 
their homes. What protection did they enjoy against the savages 
who had murdered their wives and children, who had lashed young 
girls to the trunks of trees, ravished them, cut off their breasts, and 
after performing nameless other cruelties, killed them? They (the 
Boers) were called out for commando service at their own expense, 
under command and control of the British, to fight the Kaffirs. And 
with what result? The Boer was impoverished thereby without the 
Kaffir being brought to a sense of his duty ; for, while on commando 
his cattle were stolen from his farm and driven away into Kaffirland, 
whither he was prevented from going in order to recover them. 
No ! they had no choice but to w^ait till the troops retook the cattle, 
which were after^vards publicly sold as loot in the presence of the 
owners thereof, the Boers being informed that they would receive 
compensation for same. But, Your Majesty, they received no 
recompense — not in money or goods, neither in rest nor peace, but, 
instead, abuse and indignities were heaped on them. They were 
told that they should be satisfied at not being punished as the insti- 
gators of the disturbance. 

The Trek from the Colony. 

Your Majesty, this was the state of afiairs in 1834. The dis- 
satisfaction evinced at such treatment became more and more pro- 
nounced. The Boers were told by his Excellency the Governor 
that all who were not content or would not submit to British rule 
were at liberty to migrate beyond the borders of the Colony, out 
of British territory. With feelings of deep anguish at the thought 
of having to leave their motherland and the country of their birth, 
and with a weary sigh, the question escaped them, "Whither? 
To the dismal hinterland of savage South Africa?" Yes! yes! 



GENERAL jOUBERTS ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 319 

Your Majesty, rather the dangers of the wilderness, midst wild 
animals and savage men, than to remain longer under the yoke of 
so iniquitous a Government. And then, " Come, friends, come, 
brothers ! Pack your wagons, collect your flocks and herds, and let 
us away over the border. God knows whither, and He will guide us." 

The Dangers of the Wilderness. 

The officials of the British Empire, the ambitious merchants 
and others, flourished there. Your Majesty, but hither came the 
Boers in groups and families in search of peace and rest. There 
being no one to purchase their well-cultivated farms, which they 
could not remove, they were compelled to part with same for a 
ridiculous price, or abandon them entirely. Then into the unknown 
they wandered, there to face the dangers and suffering inseparable 
from such a journey. How could they arm themselves against such 
dangers? They were not permitted to carry arms or ammunition 
along with them, but were even followed by British officials beyond 
the Orange River to try and find out if there were not, perhaps, 
still one faithful slave with his master, and if the Boers were not, 
perhaps, carrying a quantity of arms and ammunition along with 
them. Thanks to the kindness of these officials, the Boers were 
advised of the object of their coming, and were consequently 
enabled to conceal their guns and ammunition. Does Your Majesty 
not perceive in the aforementioned some analogy to certain facts in 
Biblical history ? For even as Pharaoh drove the Israelites through 
the Red Sea, were the Boers driven through the Great River. Is 
it, then, to be wondered at that, sad at heart and with intense bitter- 
ness, they preferred the perils of the desert ? 

Your Majesty, who can write the history of their lives ? Who 
can describe the suffering they endured ? They ventured forth, 
trusting in God, rid of all human despotism, surrounded by wild 
beasts, in search of a free land for their children and children's chil- 
dren. They wandered in small groups farther and farther, yet ever 
onward, until they arrived at the Vaal River, Here they pitched 
their tents and regarded the country as their Eldorado. Here were 
the means of subsistence — fish in the water, game on the veldt, and 



320 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

a prospect of being able to sow crops and to live in peace. They 
could clothe themselves with skins and subsist on flesh until God in 
His bounty provided other means. At least, so reasoned the poor 
Boers. "Come now, let us erect our tent (our tabernacle) to cele- 
brate the Sabbath, for in our God we believe and trust ; He has given 
unto us this glorious land, and we shall live and praise Him here. 
It needs not that we go beyond the Jordan, we have no Babylon or 
Jericho to overthrow. No walls to be demolished for us, for our 
Canaan is an uninhabited land; therefore, ye Boers, be up and doing, 
work and live." 

First Kaffir Engagement. 

Thus they thought, and thus they spoke ; but how short-lived 
was their delight, when at break of day, one morning, the dread cry 
of ''murder! murder!" awakened them. What could it be? 
Whence this uproar and confusion ? Moselekatse, head of a cruel, 
unknown Kaffir tribe, had come with a large regiment of warriors 
from the far North, through a wild and unpopulated country, a dis- 
tance of over loo miles, and attacked a small detachment of Boers 
near the river, no warning having reached them of the intended 
onslaught. " Up, now ! Courage, men ! Fight for your lives, for 
your wives and your children." The odds at first were three to one, 
then seven, and eventually increased to twenty to one ; but God 
gave them courage and strength, and they not only repulsed the 
horde of savages, but succeeded in rescuing several children and 
severely wounded women that were captured. Your Majesty, those 
were anxious days for them. Women wounded — in one over 20 
assegai stabs being counted — no doctor at hand, without medicine, 
and many widows and orphans destitute of food and clothing left to 
their care. And what must be done next ? Leave the Eldorado ? 
To flee ? Whither ? Back again ? No, no ! Not to the fleshpots 
of Egypt, but to God. He is our refuge. 

Other parties of the Boers had gone eastwards. With these 
they now decided to combine. But did the undaunted Moselekatse 
allow these few Boers to escape him ? On the contrary, he imme- 
diately sent a second expedition, much stronger than the previous 







a: 




,K X 



14^^ 








^^. 





"-^ 





^1 



British Officers for South Africa. 




n. T. Steyn, President of the Orange Free State. 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 32 1 

one, commanding it not to return so long as there remained a Boer 
living ; that he did not thereafter wish to hear of a living Boer. 
Thus it came to pass that this small party of fleeing Boers {^S only 
being capable of bearing arms), with their wives and children, 
together with cattle and 34 wagons, were followed by that great 
commando of savages until they reached that ever-memorable spot 
in the Orange Free State known as '' Vechtkop," where the Boers, 
recognizing the futility of continuing their flight, drew up a laager 
or camp with their wagons, surrounding same with branches of trees 
and calmly awaited their pitiless foe, who did not long delay in 
attacking them with all the fiendish courage of savages. Prepared 
to die in the face of overwhelming odds, they, nevertheless, deter- 
mined to fight manfully to the last, trusting in God. The impend- 
ing danger was awaited in earnest supplications before the Throne 
of the Triune God. As the enemy pressed on, each Boer made 
use of his rifle, causing the smoke to ascend in such volumes to 
heaven that even the flying enemy imagined the Boers had been 
vanquished, that their laager was in flames, and that they had been 
utterly annihilated. We were afterwards told that when the intelli- 
gence reached Grahamstown, Cape Colony, Your Majesty's subjects 
were so elated thereat that they celebrated the receipt of the news 
by bonfires and other illuminations, thinking that the last of the 
Boers had fallen, and that the extravagant expectations of the dis- 
contented rebels had now all ended in smoke. But, no ! Your 
Majesty, our God in heaven had another destiny for the Boer. 
For, notwithstanding 1333 assegais were hurled into the small 
laager, only two men were killed and six wounded, and their little 
camp, unlike the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, was not laid waste. 
There were still to be found fivG just men before God whose prayers 
had warded off disaster, and thwarted the wishes of your Majesty's 
Grahamstown subjects. Not only did our God cause the smoke 
and mist to disappear, but He touched the heart of a noble native, 
Marroco, who sent them, without delay, succor in the shape of 
milk, kaflir corn and pack-oxen, thereby enabling them to rejoin 
their friends who had passed over the Drakensberg into Natal. 

31 



32 2 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

lll-Fated Trekkers. 

Before further recording the history of this party, I would Hke 
to relate to Your Majesty about two other ill-fated parties of trek- 
kers — that of Jansen van Rensburg, w^hich proceeded northwards 
beyond Zoutpansberg, never to be heard of again, for all record of 
them is as absolutely lost to the w^orld as that of the ten tribes of 
Israel. It was stated that owing to the want of ammunition, which 
was denied them by the Government of the British Cape Colony, 
on their departure into the wilds, they were massacred, every one 
of them. However, what actually became of them we do not know. 

The other party under Louis Trichardt also ventured as far as 
Zoutpansberg, thence proceeding south-eastwards until Delagoa 
Bay was reached, where he (the leader), and others succumbed to 
the there prevailing fever, and from which the few survivors, to- 
gether with their children, were conveyed by vessel to Natal, where 
they were enabled to rejoin their friends. The misery and suffering 
experienced and endured by these pioneers is likewise indescribable, 
and distresses one even to think of it. 

But now, let us return to the history of those who passed over 
the Drakensberg and attached themselves to Piet Retief, Gert 
Maritz, and Uys, and let us see, Your Majesty, how they fared. 
Did they go to attack a peaceful people ? Did they go as free- 
booters into a strange or friendly country ? Did they go purposing 
to wrest territory from a lot a defenceless savages, or did they go 
to revenge themselves on the brother of Moselekatse for the iniqui- 
tous attack on them at the instigation of the latter ? Did they seek 
to avenge the blood of Von Rensberg and others, who w^ere 
murdered by the same race of savages as that to which Dingaan 
belonged? No ! Your Majesty, nothing of the kind. 

The Dingaan Massacre. 

First, they held communion with the Almighty God, and then 
approached the savage ruler of the land, King Dingaan, who had 
already promised them a tract of country, and requested him to 
grant them a written agreement to that effect. It is doubtless 
known to Your Majesty how this cruel and barbarous chief, after 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 323 

having given them the land, and after duly signing the agreement 
thereanent, mercilessly and treacherously murdered Piet Retief and 
his seventy men, immediately afterwards sending out his com- 
mandos to massacre those awaiting the return of Piet Retief and 
the unsuspecting women and children. Thus, without warning, 
were 600 helpless old men, women and children butchered in cold 
blood. What a panic, what dismay, this caused among the Boers 
scattered about the country ! Those remaining were robbed of all 
their cattle ; and what could they do ? Should they await other such 
onslaughts and perish eventually at the hands of a savage people, 
or die of hunger in the wilderness ? Alas ! how dismal their out- 
look seemed ! Whither must they go ? Whence could they expect 
help ? From Great Britain ? Yes, and help came, too ! 

Visit of Captain Jarvis. 

A vessel arrived at Port Natal, and Captain Jarvis stepped on 
shore. ''Thank God, assistance was at hand ; now no more starva- 
tion. No more fear of the sword of Dingaan. Succor has come 
at last!" Such were the thoughts of many a simple-minded Boer. 
But, alas ! how soon was their joy to be turned into grief and 
indignation, for how horribly surprised were they to learn that, 
instead of having come to their aid, he was sent to forbid them to 
fight with the natives and to disarm them. What was to be done? 
Should they offer Captain Jarvis resistance ? Yes ! Rather would 
they fight to the death than hand over their firearms. But what 
then, if the Kaffirs should come to their aid ? The Boers found 
their prospects more cheerless now than ever. They acted, there- 
fore, with great cunning, yet with submissiveness. Rather than 
show antagonism they hid their guns and ammunition, and sub- 
mitted to the inspection and search of Dr. Jarvis, anxiously praying 
to God to give them refuge. Captain Jarvis, having ascertained 
that there was no booty to be got from the poor Boers, and as 
Natal offered but few attractions then, was glad to take his 
departure. 

Poor, deserted Boer, what was now your outlook ? In a savage 
land, in the vicinity of a powerful and barbarous tribe, ruled over 



324 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

by the tyrant Dingaan, what was there to do but to avenge the 
murders committed, and restore peace with the sword ? There' 
fore, it behooved Pieter Uys, Hdk. Potgieter, and everyone to punish 
Dingaan and his tribe, and to re-estabHsh peace, otherwise the Boers 
would not have been able to live in the country. Therefore, *' 200 
men of you up and away to the mighty Dingaan ! " This, however, 
was not owing to a lust for fighting, Your Majesty, but because 
the Boer adjudged it absolutely necessar>^ and no one in the world ^^ 
could have done otherwise. 

A return to the Colony was not to be thought of. The only 
conclusion they could arrive at was to endeavor to compel Dingaan, 
at the edge of the sword, to promote peace. How unfortunate, 
though, was the outcome of this desperate effort of only 200 men to 
advance against the might of Dingaan in the midst of his people and 
in his own dangerous land, without the support of cannon or other 
instruments of war, but simply mounted on their horses, armed with 
flintlock guns. And yet they had no choice but to do it. The issue 
was only as could have been expected. Dingaan's regiments were 
too powerful for the little handful of Boers, who were forced to take 
refuge In flight, not, however, until after hundreds of the foe had 
bitten the dust. Their small stock of ammunition had run out; 
their brave commander Piet Uys, his never-to-be-forgotten little son, 
and eight others lost their lives in this conflict. But in vain ! 
Dingaan was conqueror, and his courage revived immediately. 
He now sent a larger and more powerful commando than before with 
instructions to completely destroy the Boers. This time, however, 
the Boers were on their guard. They had constructed a laager on 
the banks of the Bosman's River, where the flourishing village 
of Estcourt now lies, close to the village Weenen (to wail), so called 
in memory of the many wailing women and children massacred there. 

Defeat of Dingaan. 

It was here that Dingaan was to learn that, although but a mere 
handful of whites, the Boers, with righteousness as their cause, were 
not to be overthrown by his iniquitous hosts. No ! they did not rely 
in the strength of their horses nor in the heroism of men, but in the 



GENERAL JUUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 325 

omnipotence of their God, who gav j them the victory. For, ahhough 
the Boers were surrounded by o /erwhelming odds, and repeatedly 
stormed by thousands and thousands of the enemy, they lost but 
one killed. The Zulus, however, after three days' fighting, were 
forced to retire, leaving so many of their dead on the field that, for 
years after, the veld was white with their bones, testifying to the 
frightful carnage that took place there. God had protected the 
Boers and delivered the dearly-bought land of Natal into their 
hands. They had, however, been robbed of all their cattle, and 
knew not what to do. Their God and His word still remained to 
them, and so they were comforted — for he who has faith in God 
has not built upon the sand — and in the sight of heaven their 
cause was just ; therefore, He sent them help from above. Andries 
Pretorius had, in company with other Boers, recently arrived 
from the Cape, and he, having called together all the Boers to be 
found in Natal, and even as many of those to be found in the 
territory known as the Orange Free State, formed a commando 
about 400 strong, with which he hazarded to invade Dingaan's 
country, and, notwithstanding the fact that his men were armed 
only with fiintlock guns, they succeeded, on December i6, 1838, in 
not only defeating him (Dingaan) in this battle but in overthrowing 
his kingdom, and destroying his chief kraal, driving him so far inland 
that he was never more able to return. In token of their gratitude 
for the victory gained, the Boers made a vow to ever afterwards 
keep the date thereof as a day of thanksgiving. And so December 
16 is always commemorated at Paardekraal. 

The English Occupation. 

One would have thought. Your Majesty, that the Boer after 
this would have been left alone to live peaceably, praising his God in 
the country he had bought so dear. But no ! the yoke of oppression 
had not yet been broken. Their cup of bitterness was not yet 
emptied. Scarcely had the Boers laid out the village, Pietermaritz- 
burg, dug a water-furrow, erected a church, started a small school 
for their children, and built a court-house and prison, when lo ! 
threatening clouds began to gather and the alarm to sound again. 



;},26 GENERAL JOUBERt's ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

What can it be — the Kaffirs ? No ! a thousand — thousand times 
worse. The EngHsh have come : an officer with a company of soldiers 
equipped with cannon and shells is here ! ** It is Captain Jarvis, that 
good — that brave old soldier. We will soon be able to adjust 
matters with him ; he will presently be gone again." No ! my poor 
fellow-Boers, you are deluded. The officer is Captain Smith ; he 
has come to annex the country as a possession of that mighty 
empire, Great Britain — to make an end to our boasted independence 
and to destroy our peace. 

Your Majesty, it is with a shudder 1 recall this deplorable 
incident. It cannot be wondered at that the Boers, who had endured 
and suffered so much to obtain this land and to form an independent 
people, should have declined to voluntarily submit to such an in- 
justice, and have resisted any attempts to achieve the same. When 
they discovered that argument and fair words were of no avail, and 
that Major Smith was steadfast in his purpose to take possession of 
the country and crush the Boers, and as a step in that direction had 
already declared the bay annexed, they were driven to the verge of 
despair, and so resorted to arms. 

Emigrant Boers Resist. 

Having hastily collected together to the number of about 200, 
for they were but few and much scattered, they advanced toward 
the Congella. Major Smith, vainly imagining that this mere hand- 
ful of Boers would be disconcerted and put to flight at the first firing 
of his cannon, advanced along the shore under cover of darkness, 
until he had almost reached the sleeping laager, when he opened 
fire on the picket guard, comprising twenty-eight men, with the 
fatal result that one Boer was killed — Jan Greyling. The re- 
mainder of the Boers repelled the attack, and obliged the Major 
to retreat, leaving his cannon behind. I may here mention that 
more of the troops got drowned in the sea than succumbed to 
the bullets of the Boers. Now they had to face the fact that, al- 
though thankful to God for his many mercies, and in deep sorrow 
at the loss of one of the bravest of their young men, and for the 
many soldiers drowned, they had opposed the might of Britain. It 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 327 

was awful to contemplate ; so young a nation as they, which had 
suffered so many hardships at the hands of the savages during 
the great trek, and that had just been visited by an epidemic of 
measles, which, owing to the lack of medical assistance and proper 
nourishment, had carried off many of them. Should they fight or 
surrender, was the question asked. Certainly ; fight for their just 
rights. But, see, there come two ships now ; it is madness for 
this little handful of Boers to offer further resistance. They were 
not trained, nor armed with cannon ; and thus could not prevent 
the landing of a force stronger than themselves. They dared not 
longer fight the English, for the Kaffirs had already commenced to 
harass them from the rear. A Boer had been killed on his farm, 
and another, named Van Rooyen, murdered, his wife and daughter 
being subjected to the most inhuman treatment, ravished and driven 
away naked. Others were assaulted, and barely escaped with their 
lives. In this way the Kaffirs proved of great service to Major 
Smith and his soldiers, who were besieged by the Boers, and had 
already been driven to the extremity of eating crows and horseflesh, 
and would undoubtedly have been obliged to capitulate had it not 
been for the harassing attacks of the Kaffirs in the rear of the Boers, 
which necessitated them hastening out to their farms in order to 
save their families from certain death. And thus it came to pass 
that the Boers lost their sacred right to the territory of Natal, which 
had been purchased by the blood of their slain. What was to be 
done next ? There was no other remedy for it but to trek again, 
and trek inland, whither the English should not follow them, for if 
they remained they would once more have had to submit to the 
British yoke. They would, nevertheless, first give the latter a trial. 
"We will submit," they said ; "perhaps England will deal with us 
kindlier here than she did in the Cape Colony, our motherland. 
Come, let us wait and see ! " What happened after this. Your Ma- 
jesty? The first thing Your Majesty's servants did was to banish 
certain of the Boers, who had to flee for their lives. This was not 
all, however ; for when the Kaffirs stole their cattle, and brought 
them to Major Smith the Boers were told they could not get 



328 GENERAL JOUBERt's ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

them back, as he had run short of provisions, and would require 
them as food. 

Antagonism to British Rule. 

Thus were the prospects of the Boer growing darker and 
darker. Colonel Cloete had arrived. What had he to tell them ? 
Firstly, that they were to consider themselves the conquered sub- 
jects of her Majesty, and, as such, what would they enjoy ? Each 
one who had occupied a piece of ground could make application for 
same, which, after investigations, would be granted him. The coun- 
try had been won and acquired by the Boers ; consequently the Boer 
Volksraad had granted to each Boer capable of bearing arms two 
farms and one erf at Pietermaritzburg. These farms were inspected, 
registered, and declared as marketable property some time before 
the appearance of the English. When, however, several of the 
Boers, dissatisfied with the principle of British rule, began to leave 
the country and tried to barter their farms and erven for wagons, 
trek-cattle, clothing and other requisites for their fresh trek inland, 
they, as well as the few Boers who intended to remain under British 
rule in Natal and had bought or given something in exchange for 
the erven and arms, were profoundly astonished, not to say disap- 
pointed, when they approached Colonel Cloete for transfer of the 
property they had secured, to hear that as the erven and farms had 
not been bona fide occupied, they had therefore reverted to the 
Government and were now declared Crown lands. "The wagon 
and oxen or money and goods you have for same can only be re- 
garded as a dead loss to yourself," was the reply they got. 

This was how the British Government in Natal introduced itself 
to the defeated Boers. Many and bitter were the tears shed by the 
thus oppressed and impoverished Boers. 

Is Your Majesty, perhaps, acquainted with the fact that the 
Boers sent a delegate to lay their grievances before Your Majesty, 
who, after many weeks' traveling on horseback, reached Governor 
Pottinger, and entreated him to listen to their complaints ? But, 
Your Majesty, this emissary was not even given an audience. Thus 
it was obvious to all that the doors had been closed against their 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 329 

being heard, and that they would have to patiently tolerate all that 
befell them, without the slightest prospect of ever obtaining justice 
or relief. Is it a matter for wonder. Your Majesty, that under 
these circumstances, every Boer took advantage of the first oppor- 
tunity that offered to leave the Colony of Natal and trek beyond 
the Drakensberg to a haven of rest, where there was no British 
authority, and where they could live and die in peace ? 

It was upon these trek-Boers that various deceptions were 
practiced in Your Majesty's name. They were called together by 
the late General Pretorius to meet the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, 
who, it was stated, wished personally to see the Boers and to learn 
what the majority desired. It was announced that if the majority 
would remain under Her Majesty's rule, he, the Governor, would 
give them land and would treat the minority with every degree of 
kindness and patience, always endeavoring to persuade them to be 
reconciled to British authority ; but, on the other hand, should it 
appear that the majority were for freedom and antagonistic towards 
the authority of the British, they could go to perdition ; Her Majesty's 
Government would not trouble itself further about them. On this 
pretext as many of the Boers as could were prevailed upon to pro- 
ceed to Winburg, a newly laid out village, for the purpose of meet- 
ing Sir Harry Smith. 

The Boomplaats Engragement. 

But how ineffably deceived were they, for, instead of finding 
Sir Harry Smith and obtaining a peaceful settlement of all their 
grievances, an ultimatum was presented to them, reading as follows : 

''Your headman or leader is a rebel. I have put a price of a 
thousand pounds on his head ; and woe unto any of you who con- 
nive at his escape. I will treat such as rebels." 

Who can describe the feelings of disappointment and resent- 
ment that arose in the breasts of the Boers at these words, and to 
which only can be attributed what subsequently took place at Boom- 
plaats on the 29th of August, 1849? ^^ is true that the forces of 
Sir Harry, reinforced by bastards and Griquas, suffered a heavy 
reverse. The Boers, however, being armed only with flintlock guns, 



330 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

could not for long withstand a larger and better armed force, sup- 
ported by cannon, and were eventually obliged to retreat, leaving 
six of their number dead on the field, and several others prisoners 
in the hands of the English, none of whom were ever after seen or 
heard of. 

Thus ended this act in the drama of South Africa, creating new 
miseries for the Boers, who could not immediately trek or escape 
in flight beyond the Vaal River, where the Portuguese had conceded 
them a tract of country, decimated of its native population by the 
raiding of Moselekatse, previous to his attack upon the Boers in 
1836, and for which he had been severely punished already by Piet 
Uys and Hendrik Potgieter. The country had, so to say, been 
cleared by the Boers ; and they now availed themselves of the per- 
mission given them by the Portuguese to settle down north of the 
Vaal River, where they immediately founded a village which they 
named Potchefstroom. Having built a church and gaol, they 
proceeded with the election of a Parliament and the enactment 
of laws, etc. 

Sand River Treaty. 

It had by this time begun to dawn upon Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment that it was more politic to leave the Boer severely alone than 
to be everlastingly pursuing him from place to place like a small 
bird, hopping from branch to branch and tree to tree. With the 
object of assuring the Boers that they would not be interfered with 
north of the Vaal River, and could minister their own affairs, Her 
Majesty's Special Commissioner, Mr. C. M. Owen, was sent with 
the result that a Convention was entered into on January 16, 1852, 
signed by Your Majesty's Commissioners, Major W. S. Hogg and 
Mr. C. M. Owen, the first three articles of which read somewhat as 
follows : 

Art. I. Her Majesty's Commissioners, on behalf of the British 
Government, do absolutely guarantee to the emigrant Boers north 
of the Vaal River the right of administering their own affairs and 
of governing in accordance with their own laws, without interference 
whatsoever on the part of the British Government, and that no ex- 



GENERAL JOUBERT's ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 33! 

tension shall be made by the said Government north of the Vaal ; 
with the additional assurance that it is the fervent desire of the British 
Government to maintain peace and free trade, and to promote a 
friendly understanding- with the emigrant Boers occupying or still 
to occupy the said territory ; and it is further understood that these 
terms are to be mutually adhered to. 

Art. II. Should there arise any misunderstanding regarding the 
meaning of the word Vaal River, more particularly with respect to 
the tributaries of the Vaal, the question shall be decided by a mu- 
tually appointed commission. 

Art. III. That Her Majesty's Commission disavow all compacts 
of whatever nature with the colored nations north of the Vaal. 

Have any of these articles been carried out by Your Majesty's 
Government? 

See also the protocol which defines the boundary along the Vaal 
River and the Orange Free State right unto the sea. The British 
evidently concluded that the Orange Free State was not worthy of 
being retained by so wealthy and good a Government as that of 
England. Therefore, Her Majesty's Government sent Sir Russell 
Clark, on the 4th of February, 1854, to abolish the suzerainty and 
give the Boers absolute independence and free government. 

This just action on the part of the British Government, Your 
Majesty, was lauded and magnified by the Boer, whose confidence 
in the equity of the British had revived. No one dare say aught 
detrimental to the English. No ! an Englishman was as good as 
any other man. This feeling toward the English can be testified to 
by the many soldiers who deserted hither, by every trader, and by 
the first gold-diggers in the country. Have not English persons 
served as members of our Executive Council and as Landdrosts ? 
Have not Englishmen sat as members of our Volksraad ? Yes ! 
even several who did not understand Dutch. Did not perfect har- 
mony, co-operation, confidence and friendship prevail then between 
the Englishman and the Boer all over South Africa ? Would not, 
in this wise, all the people of South Africa, irrespective of nationality, 
soon have been blended into one common people or nation ? 



33^ GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

The Disruption, 

Whence came this antagonism, this disruption, then ? Your 
Majesty, it is to be ascribed to the diamonds, to the Basutoland 
question — ask but Theophilus Shepstone — to what took place on the 
1 2th of April, 1878. Yes! Lord Carnarvon knows, as also does 
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. Did the Boers not have to submit to the 
diamond fields south of the Vaal being taken from them ? Was not 
the glory of having vanquished the Basutos, after a long and bloody 
struggle, and after having endured so much, snatched from the 
Orange Free State ? Was not the trust assured them by the Con- 
vention abused when they were dispossessed of a stretch of country 
where the diamond mines were situated, and for which they were 
subsequently obliged to accept a sum of ninety thousand pounds 
sterling — a ridiculously inadequate sum considering that in one week 
the value of the diamonds procured exceeded this amount ? Was 
not the Transvaal annexed after all the native tribes had been sub- 
dued by the Boers ? Did not the Boers for three whole years im- 
plore Lord Carnarvon, and also later Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, as 
it were on their knees, for a restitution of their rights, sending two 
deputations to England for that purpose, yet without obtaining the 
least hope of ever having their legitimate rights restored to them ? 
It was, therefore, in desperation that the Boers resolved, on the 13th 
of December, 1880, at Paardekraal, to recall the Government to 
resume their office duties, which had been interrupted owing to the 
annexation, and to govern the people in accordance with the laws of 
the land. 

Your Majesty is probably aware that when the country was an- 
nexed on the I2th of April, 1877, against which act President Thos. 
Burgers, however, resolutely protested, a proclamation was printed 
at Pretoria in the name of the British, without let or hindrance from 
the side of the Boer. No ! the Boers, notwithstanding their indig- 
nation at this great wrong, submitted to the law and preserved order, 
intending to petition Your Majesty against this manifestly unjust 
breach of the Convention committed in the name of Your Majesty. 
They, therefore, without murmur permitted the publication of the 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 333 

document. When, however, they wanted to have a proclamation 
printed, declaring to the world their rights, Major Clark ordered 
his men to open fire on them — and this without previous warning or 
the proclaiming of war— wounding two and killing one of their horses. 

War with England. 

Thus on the 1 6th of December, 1880, war was declared by Eng- 
land against the Boers, regardless of the Convention of 1852, 
wherein their independence, etc., etc., was guaranteed to them. 

This was how the war, which lasted almost three months, 
originated. 

The wretched Boers had no experienced soldiers, nor did they 
possess cannon, ammunition, modern weapons or a full treasury ; 
indeed, they were almost destitute of food and clothing. They were 
armed only with antique flintlock guns, and had at the most a hun- 
dred rounds of ammunition. Their officers had but recently been 
chosen ; the majority of them had never been under fire before, and 
in fact knew not what war meant. Such were the men who were 
now obliged to take up arms and to do battle. Against whom ? 
Against Your Majesty? Against Great Britain ? No ! Your Majesty, 
happily not ; but against those persons who through misrepresenta- 
tion had beguiled the British Empire into the committal of a shame- 
ful deed, thereby seeking to cast a lasting reproach on Your Majesty's 
honored name, and that of the noble British race, at the same time 
straining to crush a people to whom Your Majesty had, by the terms 
of the Sand River Convention, etc., guaranteed their independence. 

In this wise the unfortunate struggle between the Boers and 
English came about. The Boers, perceiving that they could not 
move their pitiless oppressors by their protests and petitions, resolved 
to re-purchase liberty with their blood. Although many more brave 
English soldiers fell than Boers, the loss of the Boers, however, was 
greater and more acutely felt, considering the status of the British 
soldier and how considerably it differs from that of the Boer. The 
Boer was fighting for his property, his home, and for his country. 
He is invariably the father of a family, and if he gets killed, then he 
leaves behind him a widow and children, or, perhaps, the only son 



334 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADERESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

of a widow, or of aged and decrepit parents, whose support he was, 
is killed. A soldier knows none of these tender anxieties. He is 
instructed in the science of war, and thinks of nothing else ; his 
greatest ambition is to carry out the orders of his commander, and 
to gain a medal for bravery in the fight. They do not concern them- 
selves with the question as to whether they are fighting in a good 
or bad, a just or unjust, cause. No ! it matters little to them ; those 
in high positions (who sit in safety) should know, for they have cal- 
culated how much glory and honor they can gain or purchase with 
the life blood of the soldier ; but they do not consider the amount 
of suffering and pain they inflict, and what their responsibility will 
be when they come before the judgment seat of the Great Judge of 
heaven and earth, before whom everyone will one day have to 
stand, face to face with those who stood under their authority, and 
were used to the destruction and downfall of others. 

The Retrocession. 

In this war, however, such was not the outcome, for although 
the struggle was fierce and arduous and the Boers lost heavily, their 
God gave them the ultimate victory. There arose a man, Mr. Glad- 
stone, at the head of affairs in Great Britain, an upright God-fearing 
man, who could discern the directing finger of the Almighty, and was 
not too high-minded to acknowledge same and boldly declare that 
righteousness exalteth a nation — his nation. Your Majesty's nation 
— while injustice and wrong-doing sully the fame of a nation. Actu- 
ated thereto by a generous and noble Impulse, he caused the unjust 
war to cease and restored the honor of Great Britain by transform- 
ing an act of violence into a magnanimous deed. Peace was there- 
upon concluded at Lang's Nek, and the Boers might have again 
exulted at being in amity with Great Britain, although burdened now 
with a heavy debt — a liability which they respectfully protest they 
never incurred — an empty treasury, broken firearms, ammunition all 
spent and a Constitution that cannot be conformed with ; which can 
be declared as infringed every day with no impartial tribunal to 
determine one way or the other. 



GENERAL JOUBERT'S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 335 

Discovery of Gold, 

Unfortunately, a rich gold mine had been discovered in your 
country. It is surely not meant for the poor down-trodden Boer. 
Poor and abandoned men began soon to flock to this new Eldorado, 
and were presently followed by a legion of unscrupulous speculators. 
Afterwards, certain ambitious capitalists arrived on the scene, who 
knew how to use their influence, and were indifferent as to what role 
they played or of what became of the country as long as they could 
increase their wealth tenfold. And to what end did they eventually 
apply their gold, derived from the Transvaal mines ? Let history 
tell Your Majesty, and it will prove that it was not devoted to the 
good of the country or the welfare of their fellowmen ; but, on the 
contrary, to the detriment of the country whose hospitality they were 
enjoying. 

Their object was to overthrow the Government and to rob the 
people of their liberty, by force, if necessary. As they had money in 
abundance, the proceeds of the gold they had won from the mines, 
they bought thousands of rifles and Maxim cannons — smuggled these 
concealed in oil casks into the country for the purpose of using them 
against the people of the Transvaal to oust them out of their coun- 
try, whither the capitalist had come and possessed himself of the 
goldfields. With this aim in view they made a compact with one 
Cecil Rhodes to undertake a raid into the Transvaal, Dr. Jameson 
acting as the tool. 

Behold ! Your Majesty, the conduct of these men — the same 
men who are to-day clamoring about grievances. Yes ! grievances 
which have made them rich, richer than ever any of the Voortrek- 
kers was or any of their children will be. 

They then — who tried to overthrow the South African Repub- 
lic, who stirred up strife in Johannesburg on account of which many 
anxious and timid people fled from the city to escape probable hard- 
ships — are responsible for that dreadful railway accident in Natal, 
through which so many mothers and their children lost their lives. 
They shall also have to answer before the judgment seat of God for 
the blood that was spilt during this contemptible Jameson raid. 



336 GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

Here, again, Your Majesty, six Boers fell defending their rights and 
the independence of their country. 

Thus have the Boers from time to time been aggravated and 
harassed. 

Discontent in Johannesburgr. 

But even in these troubles they were not deserted by their 
God, who gave them refuge and enabled them to prove to the world 
they are a meek and enlightened people ; for although they had it 
in their power to refuse to grant quarter or pardon to Jameson and 
his gang of freebooters, they did not shoot them down, as perhaps 
another military force would have done, or even follow the example 
set them at Slachtersnek. The thought alone that they were British 
subjects sufficed the Boers not to treat them according to their 
deserts, but to hand them over to the law officers of Your Majesty 
to be dealt with as Your Majesty deemed fit. And what are the 
thanks we get for our magnanimity in liberating Jameson, Rhodes's 
henchman? Instead of thanks we are cursed with the revival of the 
Johannesburg agitation of 1895 ^"^ 1896. 

These are the men who, encouraged and assisted by Mr. Cham- 
berlain, are trying once again to bring misery upon the Transvaal, and 
as a means to this end, and in order to mislead the general British 
public, have caused a false document to have been voluntarily issued 
by 21,000 oppressed aliens, to be addressed to Your Majesty. If 
Your Majesty would have that petition sent to Johannesburg to be 
publicly and impartially scrutinized, it would soon be made manifest 
how many thousands of the names appended thereto are of persons 
who had neither read nor seen it, and of numerous others who have 
long been dead. Armed with such a document they are now 
endeavoring to bring another calamity upon the Transvaal, and per- 
haps upon the whole of South Africa. Were such a scrutiny to take 
place it would be positively proved that many whose names appear 
as signatories, rather than being against the continuance of the 
independence of the Transvaal, have grievances against the framers 
of that notorious petition and would like to bring them up for with- 
holding their wages or ill-treatment. Such, we are sure, will faith- 




jeneral Piet Joubert, Boer Coinmander=in-Chief. 




Drakensberg — on the Transvaal Border. 



GENERAL JOUBERT S ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. - 2>?)7 

fully stand by the Boers and fight for their adopted country ; unlike 
the authors of that petition, whose guilty consciences are prompting 
them to leave the country or send their wives and money away to 
Natal or Cape Colony. All this for fear of the consequences of 
their own wickedness. 

Your Majesty, what are we expected to do ? We are told 
to-day they demanded the franchise. Would it not be better for 
the people and for the independence of the country to give a vote 
to every raw Englishman just arrived in the country, or even to an 
army deserter, than to such unscrupulous capitalists and dishonest 
speculators, whose sole object is to rob the South African Republic 
of its independence, in order to be enabled to do the same here 
with the gold mines as they did with the diamond mines at Kim- 
berley under British rule ? 

Mr. Chamberlain's Statements. 

Your Majesty, it was with a deep sense of pain at the critical 
state of affairs in South Africa that I commenced to write this 
letter, but my pain and indignation have been intensified by what I 
have lately read in the newspapers of Mr. Chamberlain and his 
statements anent the Transvaal, which he fondly hopes will be 
accepted as gospel truth by every one. He has never been in the 
Transvaal. I have been to London, yet I do not imagine that I 
know all about it. Would it not be presumption on my part to 
think so? And does he alone know everything about the Trans- 
vaal ? No ! Your Majesty. Now I see clearly that he has been 
misled; that he has believed in fiction ; for how otherwise could he 
have uttered such language ? Witness his bitter speech at Birming- 
ham, when he referred to the shooting of Edgar. Your Majesty, 
this man had struck another a mortal blow, and when the police 
tried to arrest him he struck and almost killed one of them, who 
thereupon shot him dead. It was indeed a regretable incident ; 
but has it not often occurred at Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square 
that the English police have found it necessary to fire on an 
unarmed mob, and thereby killing and wounding private citizens ? 
And did ever any foreign minister dream of declaring war against 



33^ GENERAL JOUBERT's ADDRESS TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 

England or make unreasonable demands on account of such action ? 
Mr. Chamberlain is alarmed, forsooth, because a woman is mur- 
dered in the streets of Johannesburg — a circumstance which we all 
deplore, yet cannot discover the murderer. We have offered a 
reward of ^500 to any one giving information that will lead to the 
conviction of the person who committed this crime, but up to the 
present we have failed in tracking the culprit. Now, Your Majesty, 
how many women were murdered in London by the so-called Jack 
the Ripper, who, notwithstanding Mr. Chamberlain, has never been 
caught ? And yet who would ever dream of going to war with Eng- 
land because of this Jack the Ripper? Mr. Chamberlain, however, 
would set the whole of South Africa ablaze just now because we 
have not captured a murderer, or because the jury has not convicted 
an Englishman in our police service of a certain murder. 

Will Your Majesty permit a small, weak State, that has time 
after time relinquished its rights, and has ever tried to live in peace 
and harmony with Your Majesty's people and Government, to be 
oppressed and overthrown by the world-renowned power and might 
of Great Britain, simply owing to the misrepresentations of the 
persons I have already mentioned? 

Such is the inquiry of him who considers it an honor and 
privilege to extol Your Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain and 
Ireland and Empress of India, and to acknowledge the generosity 
of the British nation, and of several British statesmen. 

No ! Your Majesty, ever in supplication to the Almighty, who 
ruleth over kings and princes, and incllneth to all His great will, I, 
Your Majesty's humble petitioner, will never believe that Your 
Majesty will suffer the sacred rights of a weak, peace-loving people 
to be violated in your name, and South Africa to be cast into 
grief and mourning. On the contrary, I pray Your Majesty that 
peace, rest, prosperity, union and co-operation will reign in Your 
Majesty's name throughout South Africa, and endure as long as 
there remains a Boer or an Englishman on earth. 

Such is the wish and prayer of Your Majesty's most humble 
petitioner. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



"Oom Paul"— Taking Part in the " Great Trek"— A Panther Fight- 
Rising to Leadership— Leader of the Transvaal— The Rush for 
Gold— Personal Appearance— His House and his Lions— 
His Daily Life— Mr. Kruger's Wealth— Hardihood 
and Hunting Prowess— Characteristic Inci- 
dents— Kruger's Diplomacy— A Curi- 
ous Combination. 



ON October lo, 1825, in the little village of Colesberg, in the 
Cape Colony, there was born to Kaspar Jan Hendrik 
Kruger and Maria Steyn, his wife, a son whom they 
christened Stephanus Johannes Paulus, after various mem- 
bers of their respective families. Husband and wife were related 
in a distant degree of cousinship. 

Paul was their second child, the eldest being a girl named 
Maria, after her mother. The Steenkamps, the Potgieters, the 
Venters, and the Du Toits are all connected, by marriage, with the 
Kruger family. 

Paul's mother died when he was yet quite young and before 
the "Great Trek." His father died in 1852 and was buried, as is 
the way among the Boers, on his farm in the Magaliesberg Moun- 
tains, not far from Rustenberg. 

The Kruger family has been traced from one Jacob Kruger 
(or Cruger), who emigrated from Berlin to the Cape Colony in 
I 713, in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Since then 
the family has multiplied exceedingly ; many members thereof hav- 
ing been recorded as the fathers of ten, twelve, and, in at least one 
case, eighteen children. 

Taking Part in the '" Great Trek." 

The life of President Kruger has been, up to the present date, 
the history of the Transvaal. As a boy of ten, he took part, with 

(339) 



340 "OOM PAUL." 

his family, in that movement known as the "great trek," which laid 
the foundation of South African civilization, as we now know it. 
If ever the dream of a united South Africa is realized, that move- 
ment will find its celebrators both in poetry and music, and it will 
be odd if South African gratitude does not find expression in the 
erection of a monument in its commemoration. There is a peculiar 
fitness in alluding here to such a possibility, for it was from the Coles- 
berg district of the Cape Colony, bordering on the Orange River, 
that the young Kruger started on the pilgrimage which has ended in 
his being numbered among the first five most conspicuous men of 
the day, while the summit of the conical hill, known as the Coles- 
berg Mountain, would afford an almost unrivaled site for such a 
monument — a site whence it would look northward across the 
Orange River into the states which the energy and resolution 
of the " Voortrekkers," as they are called, have "carved from the 
waste and kindled with a soul." These men, with their wagons, 
their oxen, their wives, their children, their guns, and their Bibles, 
went forth across the Orange River, literally not knowing whither 
they went. They had before them all the perils of a land infested 
by wild beasts, and overrun 'by relentless and warlike savages. By 
hard and resolute fighting the forces of savagery were checked, and 
in 1838, some three years after the "trek " commenced, civilization 
finally asserted itself in the great battle at the Blood River. 

A Panther Fight. 

When young Kruger was in his seventeenth year, his father 
asked him to take home his span of oxen and an empty wagon. 
He was accompanied by his little sister. 

**Paul," said his father, "take care of your sister." 

"I will," he said simply. 

In those days traveling in Cape Colony was anything but a 
picnic. Wild animals were plentiful, and many a traveler became a 
prey to these beasts. Everything went well until Paul was within 
about five miles from home. Here a large panther made its appear- 
ance. The oxen took fright and bolted. The jostling of the wagon 
threw the little girl to the ground, where she was at the mercy of 



"OOM PAUL." 341 

the ferocious animal. Without a moment's hesitation young Kru- 
ger jumped from the wagon and ran to his sister's assistance. The 
panther stood with gleaming eyes over the prostrate child. Kruger 
was unarmed, but without a moment's hesitation he engaged the 
panther in a hand-to-hand battle. It was a fierce battle. Time and 
again the angry beast clawed Kruger cruelly, but his courage and 
strength never failed him. Like a bull-dog he held his grip upon 
the panther's throat until he strangled the beast to death. Kruger 
was badly lacerated. Blood flowed from many wounds, but not- 
withstanding his injuries he carried his fainting sister home. This 
exploit made him the hero of the sturdy Boers in that section. 

Rising- to Leadership. 

It was amid such surroundings and such incidents as this that 
President Kruger passed his boyhood, trained already to that reso- 
lution and self-reliance which are such necessary qualities in the 
twilight beginnings of civilization. There was another quality by 
which he was distinguished — viz. : strong religious conviction. By 
the time the independence of the South African Republic was 
recognized, by virtue of the Sand River Convention of 1852, he 
was nearly thirty years of age. All this time, and during the 
twenty- five years that elapsed before the annexation of the Transvaal, 
he was steadily gaining ground in the estimation of his neighbors 
and the public authorities with whom he came in contact. He be- 
came more and more possessed of that most essential quality for 
those who aim at being popular leaders — confidence in himself. By 
1877, in fact, his position had become so assured that there was no 
cause for surprise at his being nominated chief of the three delegates 
who proceeded to London for the purpose of pleading for the res- 
toration of the country's independence. A year later, he went 
again on a second deputation. 

Leader of the Transvaal. 

It was from about this time that Mr. Kruger became clearly the 
leader of what might be called the National party in the Transvaal. 
He had foresight enough to calculate the chances of a Liberal Min- 



342 ''OOM PAUL. 



istry coming into office in England, and influence enough to keep 
matters in South Africa in suspense till that event should happen. 
One necessary step towards keeping matters in suspense was to 
persuade the Cape Colony, the government of which had become 
strong advocates of Sir Bartle Frere's confederation scheme, to delay 
taking any decisive action. Had the Cape Parliament decided to 
adopt that scheme, the Transvaal, then under autocratic British rule, 
would have been thrown into the confederation by an order in coun- 
cil, and the plea of accomplished fact would have been employed to 
make the situation in the Transvaal still more irrevocable. By 
visiting Cape Town and working through the Dutch members of the 
Cape Parliament, Mr. Kruger succeeded in accomplishing the end 
he had in view. 

The change of ministry in England took place, but brought no 
relief to the Transvaal. The idea was encouraged in England that 
any reversal of the annexation would lead to civil war between Dutch 
and British, compelling the British Government to step in again as 
the preserver of order. Mr. Kruger became the leading individuality 
in the triumvirate that undertook control of the national movement 
for independence, but was not much heard of till negotiations for 
peace were commenced. That he was recognized by those who 
were negotiating on the British side as the strong man of the situa- 
tion there can be no doubt ; only within the last few months this has 
been stated by one who had certainly the very best opportunity 
of judging. It may fairly be taken for granted that it was his prac- 
tical and conciliatory spirit that largely influenced the Volksraad in 
deciding to ratify a convention which, in their estimation fell far 
short of the justice of the case. The sense of resolute patriotism 
that had prompted Mr. Kruger in respect of previous acts, led him 
to persist in claiming reconsideration of the terms of the Pretoria 
Convention of 1881. Hence came his third visit to Europe, which 
resulted in the London Convention of i 



The Rush for Gold. 

This brings us down to the time when, through the discovery 
of Johannesburg goldfields, the Transvaal became attractive to the 



''OOM PAUL. 343 

adventurous and speculative spirits of the whole world. The change 
which, in a very few years, took place in the relations between the 
executive and the country has been compared with the state of 
things that might happen if the crew of a collier brig suddenly found 
themselves in command of a first-class mail steamer. Simple con- 
ditions have become complex ; interests have suddenly arisen to a 
dominating position which before had hardly a recognizable exist- 
ence. It is one of the most remarkable facts of the position that, in 
spite of this sudden and unparalleled expansion, Mr. Kruger's influ- 
ence has not only not diminished, but has positively increased. 

Personal Appearance. 

Mr. Kruger is a strongly built man ; he looks shorter than he 
really is, owing to his breadth of shoulders. His face is broad and 
somewhat high-cheeked ; the eyelids are swollen, and since the 
heavy cares of his life have drawn his eyebrows together and drawn 
wrinkles on his brows, his eyes are contracted, and this gives his 
face a peculiar expression. A rather large nose stands over a very 
sharply-marked mouth ; the underlip hangs somewhat, probably from 
years of holding his beloved pipe ; but the corners of the mouth are 
fast closed and increase the strong expression characteristic of the 
President. A straggling beard surrounds his face, for in ancestral 
fashion he wears no moustache. His great physique is shown by a 
pair of huge hands in which the visitor's seem to disappear as the 
President greets him. 

His House and His Lions. 

The President lives in his own house in Church street, Pretoria, 
a house built some years ago to his order. An iron railing with 
stone pillars is in front of the house, which is protected from the sun 
by a veranda. Between the railings and the veranda, right and left 
of the entrance, crouch two stone lions, the gift of the late Mr. B. J. 
Barnato. "Whether they are British lions we know not," says the 
historian, " but the lion of Rustenburg sometimes strikes pleasantly 
these stone guardians of his house, partly in remembrance of the 
giver, who was a man with whom he got on well ; and partly because 



344 **00M PAUL. 

the sight of them recalls the days when he himself stood in the death 
grip of the king of beasts." The President's house is simply fur- 
nished, for he does not care for pomp, though he rules a country as 
large as Germany. Much furniture he does not need, since his favor- 
ite spot is the stoep. Here he may be found early in the day from 
eight o'clock, and again from half-past five till sunset. 

His Daily Life. 

He rises at break of day in old Boer fashion, and, after dressing, 
begins his day with Bible reading. Then comes his early coffee and 
his pipe, when he betakes himself to the stoep. Here, as a rule, are 
folk waiting to see him, friends or sometimes petitioners. He listens 
to them all. To some requests he promises attention ; others, if 
unimportant or ill-advised, he meets with a joke, sometimes with 
sharp rebuke. Through this custom he knows nearly every one in 
the Transvaal. But whether his request be granted or not each 
visitor goes away contented in the thought that ''Oom Paul is cer- 
tain to be right." The stoep is especially patronized during the 
Volksraad session, when Raad members have to be talked over. 
Thus, though an unlearned man, his arguments prevail, arguments 
founded on experience, the principles of statecraft and Bible texts. 
Nor should it be forgotten that Paul Kruger is stiff-necked — some 
call him obstinate — and it is utterly false to say that he is led by Dr. 
Leyds. Shortly before eight the President takes the simple break- 
fast in vogue among the Boers, then prepares for his visit to the 
Government buildings, which he reaches sharp at nine. Of late he 
has been escorted by six mounted policemen, and even inside the 
building has a guard of two with drawn swords. In the Government 
offices he is employed for three hours. 

Shortly after 1 2 the President takes a simple dinner, at which 
he usually drinks a glass of milk — for he never takes strong drink, 
though he has been heard to say that he believes that God gave man 
strong drink to use, and that there is no harm in its moderate use. 
At two the President returns to his office for two hours or two hours 
and a half, after which he finally returns home. Coffee and pipes 
and the reception of visitors fill up his time till he retires to rest. 



"OOM PAUL." 345 

The President understands English fairly well, but does not speak 
it, though occasionally in a joke he employs an English expression. 

Mr. Krug^er's Wealth. 

There is no doubt that the President is very well off. He 
owns a large number of farms in the Transvaal, and has also much 
money invested. Indeed, in the course of a debate on helping poor 
burghers, the President casually mentioned that he had lent money 
to the burghers without security, since he knew that his burghers 
were honorable. That the President saves much from his ample 
salary of $35,000 a year and $1500 for house rent, is well known. 
He gives no dinners, dances, or such entertainments as are usually 
given by the head of a state, since these are not customary with 
Transvaalers. Any well-behaved person may pay the President a 
visit, but he is not given to festivities, and lives the usual life of a 
well-to-do Afrikander. His Excellency is saving in a good sense, 
since it is a South African virtue, and fortunately prodigality has 
not become a national vice. But the charge of miserliness brought 
against him by his enemies is false. 

Hardihood and Hunting Prowess. 

In both senses of the word he is full of hardihood. During 
the War of Independence, with but a very small escort, he rode to 
the kraal of a recalcitrant Kaffir chief, and though he ran great risk 
of being attacked, for he seized the chief by the neck and would 
have made him a prisoner in the midst of his tribe, he got out of 
the difficulty, and the chief remained quiet during the war. 

When still a youth he was out hunting, and being anxious to 
get a rhinoceros, loaded with more powder than usual and fired. 
The gun unfortunately burst, and shattered the top joint of his left 
thumb. He had far to go with the shattered and bleeding thumb 
before he could get help. He bound up his thumb as well as he 
could, but unfortunately it began festering, and threatened to mor- 
tify, so that the worst must be feared. Whereupon the youth, with 
amazing courage and incredible toughness, cut off the top joint of 
his thumb with his pocket-knife. The evil had gone too far, and 



346 ''OOM PAUL." 

the operation was of no avail. Quite coolly, Paul Kruger then cut 
off the second joint, and the thumb then fortunately healed. The 
man who could do this is not the man to be easily frightened. He 
possesses a strength of will almost bordering on the incredible, and it 
is no wonder that the thumb-amputator has become so hard a nut for 
the officials of Downing^ street to crack. Much miofht be written of 
his hunting skill and feats of strength and activity. He beat a Kaffir 
in a whole day's race, though he stopped to fight a lion on the way. 
He seized by the horns a buffalo which had fallen into a water pit 
and lay on its side, until he drowned it. 

Characteristic Incidents. 

When Johannesburg was a mere mining camp. President Kru- 
ger was once riding there dressed as an ordinary burgher. He fell 
in with a German who did not know him, and the son of the Father- 
land waxed eloquent on what he would do were he President. The 
Teuton was a diminutive individual, and was much surprised when 
his new acquaintance took off his coat and held it towards him, 
saying : 

*'Put this on." 

'Ht's too large," replied the other, amused. 

''I know that," responded the other. "I'm President Kruger; 
if you could fit my coat you might accomplish mighty deeds." 

President Kruger was one day watching the lions in a me- 
nagerie, when he suddenly turned to the proprietor with the remark : 

"These lions are like Chamberlain ; they want lots, take all they 
can get, never mind how much you have given them, and are most 
cool about it, too." 

"That's so," responded the keeper ; "and they'll get all that it is 
possible to get, great or small, and are never more quiet than when 
they think they're going to get most." 

"Dear me! is that so?" commented Oom Paul, as he walked 
away. 

Kruger's Diplomacy. 

But President Kruger is above all things a wily diplomatist, as 
was well shown when a deputation of Outlanders waited upon him 



\ '^OOM PAUL.*' 347 

to hint that he was responsible for the decrease in vakie of mining 
shares. Oom Paul answered them in a parable about a pet mon- 
key he once had. 

"Years ago," said the President, ''on a cold day, I and the 
monkey made a fire, in which the animal burnt his tail, and in re- 
venge bit me. I said to him, ' I made a fire to warm us both, but 
you burnt your tail in it. That was your own fault, and I don't see 
why you should be angry with me.' " 

When the anecdote was finished, the deputation concluded it 
was no place for them, and withdrew without a word. 

On another occasion he had referred to him a question about 
the division of certain property between two brothers, who agreed 
to abide by Kruger's decision. He listened patiently to both sides, 
and then delivered his judgment. To the elder brother he said : 
" I decide that you, being the senior, shall divide the property." 
Then he paused to take a pull at his pipe, and continued with a 
smile on his face, "but I also decide that the younger brother shall 
have his choice of the two portions." 

A Curious Combination. 

He is sincerely religious and a remarkable Biblical scholar. 
Unhappily he has a knack of turning texts upside down to suit 
any purpose of his own. His religion is of the fanatical, bigoted, 
*'barebones" type, and knows no liberality or broad-mindedness. 

He preaches often in the Dopper Church just opposite his 
house. His homilies are long-winded, dull and uninspiring ; but it 
is due to him to say that within the excessively narrow limits of his 
tenets he is absolutely sincere. 

He is at once something like an Oliver Cromweli, a Savonarola, 
a John Knox, a Bismarck and a Machiaveli. A queer aggregation 
of personalities, but they all make some factor in the character of 
the President of the South African Republic. 



CHAPTER XXVIi 



Boer Leaders— J oubert and Kruger— A Much Camera'd Man— How He 
Helped Kruger's Election— A Great Letter-writer— The Boer 
Ambassador— A Man of Craft— His Rise to Power— A So- 
cial Leader— Sent Abroad— A Boer Judge— Secre- 
tary Reitz— Landdrost Smith— A Boer Jingo 
—A German Officer. 



THE Vice-President of the Transvaal, and Commander-in-chief 
of its army, General Piet Joubert (Sliem Piet), was perhaps 
the second most prominent figure among the Boers. Long- 
headed, shrewd, cold, and calculating, he is also by no means 
a typical Boer. He has paid two or three visits to England, and 
perhaps was one of the three or four in the inner Government cir- 
cles in Pretoria who realized what war with England would mean. 
Still, he in no way lacked physical courage ; he had shown that time 
and ao;ain. 

His religious tenets are not obtrusive, and he has never been 
found out in any bad financial transactions. As a general in the 
field he is cool and clever, and a thoroughly expert exponent of 
Boer fighting tactics. 

Joubert and Krug-er. 

Piet Joubert and Paul Kruger have never been very good 
friends. 

They are both strong men, and although in public and in the 
councils of State they have always appeared to be on the best of 
terms, it has been an open secret in Pretoria for many years past 
that their personal relations were not of the most cordial. 

This may be accounted for in many ways. The two men have 
little in common, save strength of character and love of their country. 

Kruger admires Joubert's ability, shrewdness and education. 
Joubert envies Kruger his place, his power and his money. 

(348J 



BOER LEADERS. 349 

The Kaffirs have a saying, ''Indonga ziwelene,*' meaning "the 
walls have knocked together." This saying they apply when two 
important personages come into collision. It has often been used 
in connection with the two protagonists of the South African Re- 
public. 

Piet Joubert is nicknamed '' Slim Piet," which he takes as a 
great compliment. Slim, in the common Dutch parlance, means 
something between smart and cunning ; the American expression 
'* cute "is the nearest equivalent. Joubert is an honest man ac- 
cording to his lights, but they are dim. He never has deliberately 
swindled any one, but, being a man of business first and a farmer or 
a generalissimo afterward, he takes the keenest delight in getting 
the best of a deal whether it be in mining shares, gold claims, water 
rights, or oxen. It is this pride in the conscious sentiment of ''smart- 
ness " that is such a prominent feature throughout the Boer character. 

A Much Camera'd Man. 

One of Joubert' s foibles is being photographed. Probably he 
is the most camera'd man in the Transvaal. Owing to this harmless 
little peculiarity his features are thoroughly well known and may 
be critically examined as typical of the highest class of Boer intellect. 

A broad, straight, furrowed brow, from which the whitening 
hair is carefully brushed back, overhangs a pair of powerful, clear 
and honest gray eyes, which look the stranger straight In the face, 
and are not shifty and furtive as are those in the head of the average 
Boer, The mouth Is cold and hard, with no trace of a smile ; the 
corners droop slightly, and the general expression is not amiable. 
The nose Is the striking feature ; it inspires respect, for it is built on 
strong, commanding lines, and broadens out at the base into pow- 
erful but sensitive nostrils. The face as a whole has dignity, re- 
pose, almost a certain nobility of its own. 

As his name implies, Joubert Is of French extraction. In 1688 
a large party of French settlers, fleeing from the disastrous results 
of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, were sent out from Hol- 
land for purposes of colonization. Some of them were granted 
lands and free farms in the neighborhood of Stellenbosch and at 



350 BOER LEADERS. 

Fransche Hock (Frenchman's Corner). In course of time they 
intermarried with Dutch colonists, and this admixture of good 
Huguenot blood with the sturdy Low Country burgher has produced 
the present race of Boers, of whom Joubert is a specimen very far 
above the average. 

There is a picture at The Hague of the States General, by 
Rembrandt, which shows a crowd of old burghers discussing war 
plans over a table. Among the heads there are half a dozen Jouberts. 
The type has in no way changed, and in a case such as his, where 
the usual Boer degeneracy, by a succession of fortuitous circum- 
stances, has been kept in abeyance, there remains a splendid sample 
of humanity which is all man. 

Naturally and almost by right there come to such a one honors 
and distinctions galore. Joubert is Vice-President of the South 
African Republic, he is also commander of the forces, he is on the 
Executive Council, which answers to our Cabinet, and he holds a 
dozen other offices of high honor. He has made two attempts at 
wresting the Presidency from Paul Kruger but was defeated in both 
cases. The first time there was no doubt that he ran for the 
Presidency in a perfectly honorable manner, and, moreover, it was 
very generally thought at the time that he had a very good chance. 
There were even those who alleged that he actually polled more 
votes than Kruger, and was only not returned owing to a partic- 
ularly flagrant piece of verneukerij, or swindling, combined with 
wholesale bribery and corruption of the returning officers. 

How He Helped Krugrer's Election. 

Be this as it may, the next election, fi.ve years later, was fought 
on other lines. The former, by the way, was conducted in the time- 
honored open fashion of every burgher giving his vote openly and 
in public. Before the latter election, however, a Secret Ballot act 
had been passed, and voting took place nominally in secret, though 
it is probable that the burghers were coerced into voting just as the 
wirepullers pleased. Anyhow, there were three candidates — Paul 
Kruger, Chief Justice Kotze and General Joubert. Kruger hap- 
pened to be in evil odor in the Transvaal at the time for various 



BOER LEADERS. 351 

causes, not the least of which was his open advocacy of the Dopper 
Church against the Gevormeerde, or less puritanical Lutheran party. 
He therefore feared that his period of Presidentship might be brought 
to an untimely close. Kotze was a dangerous rival. He was 
honest, upright, a judge, a gentleman, and a man of education. All 
these qualifications turned to drawbacks in Kruger's eyes. So 
Joubert was induced, for reasons which were openly discussed at the 
time, to make a triangular duel of the election, and by splitting the 
votes of the Progressive burghers insure Kruger's election. This 
duly occurred and Kruger returned to the emoluments of office. 

On at least two occasions Joubert has been to England, and it 
was in 1884 that he accompanied Kruger and General Smit on that 
memorable visit to London, when, according to Mr. Fitzpatrick's 
new book, they could not pay their bill at the Albemarle Hotel. 

They applied to the late Baron Grant, who held valuable 
mining rights in the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal, asking for 
pecuniary assistance. This was duly given, but in return a promise 
was made that good will, encouragement and protection should be 
extended to British settlers in the Transvaal. Mr. Kruger responded, 
on behalf of the Republic, by publishing in the public press a cordial 
invitation and welcome and the promise of rights and protection to 
all who would come. 

A Great Letter Writer. 

The worthy General is unquestionably a great letter writer, 
and the American press seems to offer him an unlimited field for his 
epistolary effusions. Quite recently a screed, presumably from his 
pen, drew a reply, or rejoinder, from a well-known novelist, which 
put him to rights on various essential points of accuracy. 

Dr. Clark, M. P., formerly Transvaal Consul in London, has 
also been the recipient of Joubert's letters, and, as a rule, extracts 
therefrom appear in the London press. 

Although Joubert is nominally Commander-in-Chief of the 
Transvaal forces, he cannot be said to possess the entire confidence 
of his soldiers, patriotic or mercenary. He appears to be, or to 
have been at the commencement of hostilities, too Fabian in his 



352 BOER LEADERS. 

Operations to please the younger generation of Boers. They even 
petitioned Pretoria to replace him by Cronje, who as a fire-eater, a 
swashbuckler and a noisy fellow has no equal in the Transvaal. But 
Joubert is too old and tried a patriot to be ousted by the noisy 
clamor of the young Boers. 

He is one of the few among the leaders of the burghers who 
must realize to the full what war with England really means. He 
has been to England, has seen her soldiers, her sailors, her re- 
sources, her wealth and her discipline. He has appreciated all this, 
and his active participation in what he knows to be a hopeless strug- 
gle is magnificent testimony to his pertinacity of purpose and to the 
strength of his love for his country. 

A brave old gentleman. Would there were more like him ! 

The Boer Ambassador. 

One of the most important and influential Transvaal leaders is 
Dr. Leyds, who for some years has served as the general diplomatic 
agent of the Republic in Europe. 

"What a charming fellow!" That is the involuntary opinion 
formed by any previously unprejudiced person on first meeting Dr. 
Leyds. He is such a thorough man of the world, suave, gentle and 
courteous in manner, with a fund of information on all subjects, a 
pretty taste in art, and all the refinement of high culture. 

A good-looking man, too, of medium height, he has a dark com- 
plexion, dark, rather straight hair, and dark eyes, keen, piercing, 
but kindly. Added to this, he is well dressed, neat and polished, 
with the invariable black frock-coat, clean white shirt and narrow 
black tie, like a bootlace, of the orthodox Continental diplomatist. 

A Man of Craft. 

Withal, he is a crafty man of extraordinary powers of fascina- 
tion ; no one leaves his presence unscathed by his subtle power of 
charm. Even Paul Kruger succumbed after the briefest struggle, 
and though it were gross flattery to allege that Leyds was popular 
in Pretoria, it would be equally incorrect to say that he was feared. 
A little of the basilisk, a good deal of the sphinx, a touch of Mach- 




B^B^^^^^M 



mss^kiid 



British Artillery Going into Action. 




Boers Heliographing. 



BOER LEADERS. 353 

iavelian-Mephlstopheles, and the affability of a drawing-room tenor 
— all these qualifications combined In making the man interesting as 
a study and almost unique as a type. 

The broad facts of his peculiar case are simple enough. He Is 
a Batavian, born of Dutch parents in the Netherlands East Indies. 
As a boy he was brought home to Holland and put to school. He 
displayed quite remarkable aptitude and ploughed his way quickly 
and valiantly through all the junior classes. Before he was sixteen 
years old he had passed with honors his final examination In the 
Government College of Preceptors. He then took his degree as 
Doctor of Philosophy — hence his title — and also qualified as a teacher 
of drawing and gymnastics. 

His Rise to Power, 

In the year 1884, the Transvaal being in want of educated 
officials who could conduct the business of the republic in a manner 
more or less in accordance with its claim to be a civilized nation, he 
was appointed State Attorney (Attorney-General) of the South Afri- 
can Republic. 

With his blushing honors thick upon him, he set sail for what 
was to him a veritable Eldorado. He was a poor man, a very poor 
man, but he did not remain so long. The fates were propitious. 
Soon after his arrival In Pretoria and his being sworn Into office, he 
accurately gauged the material which he was employed to mould 
into shape ; very unpromising at first, but with Illimitable possibili- 
ties of which he was not slow to take advantage. 

He soon began to assert himself Dr. Leyds, of Pretoria, in a 
very few months became the butterfly that had emerged from the 
chrysalis Schoolmaster Leyds of Holland. The plastic Boers were 
more or less easily moulded Into the shape which their Attorney- 
General thought best for them — and for himself He was not afraid 
of hard work, and the reforms and apparent economies which he 
introduced, amazed and delighted the members of the Government. 

Nothing was too small, nothing too large, for Dr. Leyds to 
tackle. He even found that the much maligned concessionaire 
monopoHst had his uses as well as the meanest thing that creepeth, 

23 



354 ^OER LEADERS. 

He cultivated the concessionaire, made much of him ; perhaps he 
showed him the evil of his ways ; anyhow, they were always on the 
best of terms. Both appeared to wax fat and flourish — metaphori- 
cally, that is, for Dr. Leyds never lost his slimness of figure and his 
air of the hero of a young maiden's dream. 

A Social Leader. 

Socially, Dr. Leyds has always been vastly assisted by his 
charming wife, who is Dutch by birth, and of quite extraordinary 
linguistic powers. It was currently reported that Dr. and Mrs. 
(Mevrouw) Leyds between them spoke over a dozen languages 
more or less fluently. Pretoria is not a literary town, and the cen- 
tres of culture are few. The salon Leyds was therefore all the more 
welcome as a haven of sweetness and light. Books were discussed, 
likewise pictures and prints, especially of the old Dutch masters. 
Dr. Leyds is a violoncellist of peculiar excellence, and chamber 
music, trios and quartets were performed with taste and skill. 

Toward the middle of 1889, when the inrush of Outlanders to 
the goldfields had raised the population and the income of the 
Republic to an incredible extent, a brilliant prospect was set before 
the aspiring statesman. He was appointed State Secretary, an 
office of great importance, if of somewhat poor emolument. He 
was duly installed, and proceeded at once to attract the immigra- 
tion into the Transvaal of hordes of impecunious and incompetent 
Hollanders, who speedily filled a very large proportion of the minor 
offices in the Civil Service. 

Sent Abroad. 

This brigade of jackals, for it was nothing less, was absolutely 
at the beck and call of the astute doctor. They were his creatures, 
his satellites, his myrmidons. Through them he obtained such a 
hold over the internal economy of the Government that even his 
worthy President, Paul Kruger himself, began to get nervous. 
Previously there had been — outwardly, at least — the greatest seem- 
ing cordiality between the two, but with the rise of Leyds there 
came a distinct alienation of the intimacy, a tension of the bond 



BOER LEADERS, 355 

between them. Leyds was at this time hand and glove with the 
Netherlands Railway Company, and while ostensibly working for the 
Republic, he was doing no injury whatsoever to his private interests. 
So things went on until it became evident that the Lendesva- 
ders, the ''patres conscripti," had become jealous and envious oi 
this young, cultured sprig of old Holland. He was altogether too 
important, useful, well-to-do, and, above all, too polite. This last 
quality they hated, because they could not understand it. There 
must be, they thought, some sinister design behind this suave, 
charming manner. So they perpended ; and it was thought safer 
to deport Dr. Leyds. 

A Boer Judge. 

A man who in a quiet, unostentatious, but deadly effective way 
has done as much as anybody to engender bitter feelings between 
Boer and Outlander is the present Chief Justice of the Transvaal, 
Judge Gregorowski. 

An Orange Free State man, of Russo-Polish extraction, he was 
specially brought to Pretoria, inducted into the rites of full burgher- 
ship, and elevated to the bench for the purpose of sentencing the 
sixty-odd reform prisoners after the Jameson raid. No Transvaal 
judge — Kotze, Ameshoff, Morice, or Jorissen — could be trusted to 
be sufficiently severe, Draconian, Jeffreys-like. So they imported 
Gregorowski. Right well he did his work. Not only were the 
sentences terribly drastic, but the method of the man in delivering 
the death sentences, (afterward commuted), and his trickery in 
permitting a pleading of guilty to certain counts of the indictment, 
made the final scene at the trial one of the most terribly affecting 
ever witnessed in a court of justice. 

Secretary Reitz. 

The Transvaal State Secretary, Mr. Reitz, formerly President 
of the Orange Free State, where he succeeded but in no way prof- 
ited by the example of the late lamented President Brand, is a pa- 
thetic figure. Old beyond his years — senile, almost, suffering from 
an incurable disease — at the beck and call and entirely under the 



356 BOER LEADERS. 

thumb of Kruger, he signs documents put before him without read- 
ing their contents, or if reading them, not understanding what they 
are about. A shiftless poHtician, not rich, as are others in high 
office, because he came to the Transvaal too late, and most of the 
pickings were picked. Besides, he is passing honest, and almost an 
old gentleman to boot. 

Landdrost Smith. 

The Landdrost, or Chief Civil Magistrate, of Pretoria, is one 
J. S. Smith, and he is a man entitled to high honor in his own land. 
He recently charged the public funds with a sum of over $400,000, 
alleged to have been spent in constructing and repairing certain 
streets in Pretoria. A question arising as to the legitimacy of this 
expenditure, a committee of the Volksraad was appointed to inquire. 
Smith could only produce vouchers for about half the sum. The 
inquiry closed without reporting. Next session it was mentioned in 
the Volksraad, and on the proposal of John Meyer (a bosom friend 
and great supporter of the President) it was resolved that the mat- 
ter should be considered as closed. Nothing has ever been heard 
of the missing $400,000, and Smith continues in office. 

A Boer Jingo. 

Quite the most patriotic Boer and rabid anti-Briton is a mem- 
ber of the Volksraad, named Stoffel Tosen. This man is a renegade 
Englishman, and his name was Stephen Townsend. His father was 
a private in a line regiment quartered at Pietermaritzburg. Many 
years ago he deserted to the Transvaal and fought for the Boers in 
the war of 1881. His son, the present bearer of the Boer variant 
of a good British name, is an extraordinarily ignorant bigot. A few 
years ago, when the monster petition from the Rand, praying hum- 
bly for better representation, was presented to the Rand, Tosen, 
from his seat, called out, of course in the Taal: 'Tf they want the 
franchise, they've got to fight for it ! " Again, he was known to 
have been heavily insulted to promote the passing of the Dynamite 
Monopoly bill. The bribe took the form of a bet of ;/J"50o to a shil- 
ling that the bill would not pass. Of course it passed, and the loser 



BOER LEADERS. 357 

gladly paid up the sporting odds. In supporting the bill, Tosen 
gravely said that ''the word of God had come to him overnight 
telling him that it would be for the good of the country for the bill 
to be passed." This is textual. 

A really typical Boer is Barend Vorster, Jr. He has been 
mixed up with most of the Pretoria financial scandals, and he always 
comes out branded, but unscathed in position. Over the Selati 
Railway deal he received a gold watch and some '' spiders," or four- 
wheeled carriages. A newspaper openly accused him, by name, of 
accepting bribes, and the President himself defended Vorster' s action, 
saying that he saw no harm in members receiving such presents. 

A German Officer. 

Colonel Schiel's name is probably more familiar to Englishmen 
than that of any other officer of the Boer army, with the possible 
exceptions of Joubert and Cronje. There is a certain element of 
mystery about his career ; but it appears that after serving in the 
German army he left it with the rank of sergeant and emigrated to 
South Africa. For some reason or other, he, like so many other. 
Continentals, has an intense hatred of England and Englishmen, 
and has never missed an opportunity of doing them a bad turn. 
He served as an instructor in tactics with the Zulu army under Cet- 
ewayo in the war of 1879, which ended with Ulundi, and at the 
conclusion of hostilities the British Government offered a reward 
for his capture. 

We next hear of him in the Transvaal as an artillery officer, 
and it is said the forts at Pretoria and Johannesburg were con- 
structed under his direction. Indeed, he is credited in some quar- 
ters with the authorship of the Boer plan of campaign in Natal. How- 
ever that may be, he was wounded at Elandslaagte, and, with other 
Boer officers, fell into British hands. For safe custody he has since 
been placed on board Her Majesty's ship "Penelope" in Simon's 
Bay, and his precise status as a prisoner of war yet remains to be 
determined. Whatever his faults — from a British point of view — ■ 
may be, he is undoubtedly a clever and accomplished soldier, and, 
as his portrait shows, a fine-looking man. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



Negotiations Ended — Reaction at Pretoria— Moving for Action 
Preparing for the Plunge— The Boer Ultimatum— Complaints 
Against England— Military Menaces— The Final Demand 
— '*A11 South Africa"— An Afrikander Nation. 



THAT the dispute between the Imperial Government and the 
Transvaal could only be settled ultimately by force of arms, 
should have been made clear by the conference at Bloemfon- 
tein. In retrospect, it is only too evident that the difference 
there disclosed between the two parties was one that could hardly 
have been bridged over, even if both had made what from their point 
of view had been great concessions. Probably in Sir Alfred Milner's 
eyes the conference w^as a last attempt to secure by peaceful means 
some settlement of a situation that had been getting more and more 
impossible for many years past. The object of the conference was 
to make clear to President Kruger, in as friendly a manner as could 
be, that either he must set his own house in order at once, or have 
it set right for him by force. The franchise proposal was a sugges- 
tion as to the means that might be adopted to the former end. In 
itself, the alienation of a large body of British subjects was not a 
thing her Majesty's Government particularly desired ; it would have 
been equally ready to discuss any other method of solving the Out- 
lander difficulty. But, such as it was, the suggestion was for accept- 
ance or refusal. 

To President Kruger and his burghers the franchise proposal 
presented itself not as a suggestion, but as a demand. After in- 
numerable irritating interferences with their untrammeled right of 
misgovernment, the British Government was now proceeding to 
claim the jealously-guarded privilege of the franchise. Throughout 
the months that followed the conference, the Boer attitude towards 
the question was that an entirely unwarranted demand was being 

(358) 



NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 359 

made upon them, which Great Britain wished to extort, while refusing 
to give anything in exchange. Each step nearer to the "irreducible 
minimum" was regarded by them as an entirely fresh concession 
wrung from them by force, till at last, by dint of never satisfying Sir 
Alfred Milner's original demands, they began to persuade themselves 
that those demands could never be satisfied, and were actually being 
increased. 

Reaction at Pretoria. 

After awhile a strong reaction began to set in at Pretoria 
against conceding anything. Mr. Smuts' proposal of August 19th, 
which practically conceded the Bloemfontein minimum, was nullified 
by his note of August 21st, penned under the influence of the more 
reactionary members of the little circle who have hitherto controlled 
the affairs of the Transvaal. From that moment the reaction pro- 
ceeded steadily, helped later by the officially disseminated story that 
Mr. Conyngham Greene had only decoyed Mr. Smuts into his pro- 
posal in order to reject it as an insult to the suzerain power — a story 
which Mr. Smuts himself did not pretend to uphold, but which Mr. 
Steyn set forth in the most unmeasured language in his address at 
the opening of the Free State Raad, and which Mr. Reitz since re- 
peated in his manifesto, published after the declaration of war. 
Though politicians in England, and even at the Cape, believed 
President Kruger to be still playing his old game of "bluff," it was 
evident enough at Pretoria, from the end of August onwards, that 
the Boers would sooner fight than concede a hair's breadth further. 
The Transvaal reply of September 15th was still moderate in tone, 
but the spirit that lay behind it was absolutely uncompromising. 

Moving for Action, 

With the dispatch of September 25th, a further change came 
over the situation. It was evident that the Cabinet would not hurry 
to formulate the new proposals for a general settlement of the posi- 
tion of the Transvaal till it was in a position effectively to enforce 
them. A strong agitation for immediate aggressive action sprang 
up. The President and those of his advisers who were eager to 



360 NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 

throw the responsibility of forcing the rupture upon England were 
forced to yield as soon as they had satisfied themselves that the 
Free State would not hesitate to take part in the attack. From the 
Boer point of view there was, it must be admitted, a great deal to 
be said for the policy of taking the bull by the horns. If they were 
determined to fight sooner than make the least concession it was 
evidently better to fight with 15,000 men than with 50,000. They 
were confident they could crush the small force in Natal long before 
reinforcements could arrive, and could raise a vast region of Cape 
Colony in revolt by the mere presence of their invading com- 
mandos. Mr. Reitz's ultimatum, which was not handed in to the 
British agent till October 9th, was decided on and actually framed 
before the end of September. The intention of the Transvaal 
Government was to present that ultimatum on October ist or 2d 
and to immediately commence hostilities at the expiration of the 
forty-eight hours. 

At this moment a hitch occurred which temporarily upset the 
whole arrangement. In the evening of September 30th and the 
morning of October ist, the Executive made two unwelcome dis- 
coveries. The first was that their forces were not ready. They 
had mobilized almost the whole male population of the country, 
supplied them with arms and ammunition, and sent them to the 
front in the remarkably short space of four days ; but they had 
done so only by dint of neglecting all arrangements for transport 
and commissariat. The men, and with them the rolling-stock, had 
all gone off to the borders of the Republic, while the food was lefc 
in Pretoria without means of conveyance. The other unwelcome 
discovery was that the Free State army was equally unready. 
Accordingly, on October ist, the uncompromising attitude of Pre- 
toria was slightly modified. Rumors of some last attempt to make 
peace, of an impending visit to Pretoria of Messrs. Schreiner and 
Hofmeyr, of divisions in the British Cabinet, were given free play. 
After the lapse of another week the mobilization had been really as 
well as nominally carried out, and the Transvaal was ready to come 
out and challenge the British Empire to battle. But in that short 



NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 36 1 

interval over 5,000 troops from India had landed in Natal, and the 
policy of attack had already lost some of its justification. 

Preparingr for the Plunge. 

The desire not to estrange sympathy in Cape Colony and in 
England was one of the chief reasons which made the Transvaal 
Government hesitate before deciding on opening the war itself 
But it seems as if, once having surmounted its initial scruples, that 
Government threw all further consideration of the effect of its 
action to the winds. The sympathy felt by some persons for the 
Transvaal might not have been much affected by a manifesto 
explaining that the Republics being forced into war preferred to 
fight while they still had some hope of success. But nothing could 
have been more ill-advised or have served better to unite all parties 
in England, and make even the friends of the Boers realize the 
nature of Transvaal ambitions, than the startling ultimatum for 
which Mr. Reitz was responsible. It is a well-known psychological 
rule that in moments of high excitement men unconsciously reveal 
thoughts and aspirations they would otherwise keep back. The 
rule has been well illustrated by Mr. Reitz's ultimatum and by other 
published utterances of himself and of President Steyn. That ulti- 
matum reveals in almost every line the aspiration of the Transvaal to 
be the paramount power in South Africa. The Transvaal "feels 
obliged in the interest not only of this Republic, but also of the 
whole of South Africa, to make an end as soon as possible " of the 
existing crisis, and practically orders the Imperial Government to 
disarm throughout the whole of its South African dominions. The 
nature of Afrikander ambitions comes out in still more violent 
and emphatic language in President Steyn's and Mr. Reitz's mani- 
festoes issued after the declaration of war. Such manifestoes may, 
perhaps, have had an effect in stirring up warlike feeling in the 
Republics ; they certainly have also had their effect on public 
opinion in England. 

All negotiations were suddenly ended on October 9, 1899, by 
the presentation of an ultimatum to Great Britain by the Boer Gov- 
ernment, announcing that war would be declared the second day 



362 NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 

thereafter unless certain conditions were complied with. These con- 
ditions were deemed intolerable by the British Government, and so 
the war began. 

The Boer note, which was received at the Colonial Office early 
on the morning of October 9 contained four demands : (i) that all 
questions in dispute should be settled by arbitration, or such other 
amicable way as might be agreed on ; (2) that the British troops on 
the Transvaal border should be instantly withdrawn ; (3) that all 
reinforcements which had arrived in South Africa since June i should 
be removed from the country ; (4) that all British troops which were 
then on the high seas should not be landed in South Africa. 

In the event of no satisfactory answ^er to these demands being 
received by the Transvaal Government before five o'clock the next 
afternoon (about three o'clock Greenwich time), the action of her 
Majesty's Government would be regarded as a formal declaration of 
war. The note added that if any movement of British troops "in 
the nearer directions of our borders " took place before the expira- 
tion of the time limit, that also would be regarded as a formal decla- 
ration of war. 

These demands concerning the troops were specially repug- 
nant to the British Government, for the reason that all its troops in 
South Africa did not number one-half as many as those which the 
Boers already had in the field. In fact, as after events showed, the 
Boers had made far more extensive and complete preparations for 
war than had the British. 

The Boer Ultimatum. 

The full text of the Boer ultimatum was as follows : 
**SiR — The Government of the South African Republic feels itself 
compelled to refer the Government of her Majesty the Queen of 
Great Britain and Ireland once more to the Convention of London, 
1884, concluded between this Republic and the United Kingdom 
and which [^ in] its XlVth article secures certain specified rights 
to the white population of this Republic, namely, that ' all persons, 
other than natives, conforming themselves to the laws of the South 
African Republic (a) will have full liberty, with their families, to 



NEGOTIATIONS ENDEt). 363 

enter, travel, or reside in any part of the South African Republic ; 
(b) they will be entitled to hire or possess houses, manufactories, 
warehouses, shops and premises ; (c) they may carry on their com- 
merce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to 
employ ; (d) they will not be subject, in respect of their persons or 
property, or in respect of their commerce or industry, to any taxes, 
whether general or local, other than those which are or may be im- 
posed upon citizens of the said Republic' 

"This Government wishes further to observe that the above 
are only rights which her Majesty's Government have reserved in 
the above Convention with regard to the Outlander population of 
this Republic, and that the violation only of those rights could give 
that Government a right to diplomatic representation or interven- 
tion, while, moreover, the regulation of all other questions affecting 
the position or the rights of the Outlander population under the 
above-mentioned Convention is handed over to the Government and 
the representatives of the people of the South African Republic. 

" Amongst the questions the regulation of which falls exclusively 
within the competence of the Government and of the Volksraad are 
included those of the franchise and representation of the people in 
this Republic, and although thus the exclusive right of this Govern- 
ment and of the Volksraad for the regulation of that franchise and 
representation is indisputable, yet this Government has found occa- 
sion to discuss in a friendly fashion the franchise and the represen- 
tation of the people with Her Majesty's Government, without, how- 
ever, recognizing any right thereto on the part of Her Majesty's 
Government. This Government has also, by the formulation of the 
now existing Franchise Law and the resolution with regard to rep- 
resentation, constantly held these friendly discussions before its eyes. 

Complaints Against England. 

"On the part of Her Majesty's Government, however, the 
friendly nature of these discussions has assumed a more and more 
threatening tone, and the minds of the people in this Republic and 
in the whole of South Africa have been excited and a condition of 
extreme tension has been created, while Her Majesty's Government 



364 NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 

could no longer agree to the legislation respecting franchise and the 
resolution respecting representation in this Republic, and finally, by 
your note of September 25, 1899, broke off all friendly correspond- 
ence on the subject, and intimated that they must now proceed to 
formulate their own proposals for a final settlement, and this Gov- 
ernment can only see in the above intimation from Her Majesty's 
Government a new violation of the Convention of London, 1884, 
which does not reserve to Her Majesty's Government the right to a 
unilateral settlement of a question which is exclusively a domestic 
one for this Government, and has already been regulated by it. 

'* On account of the strained situation and the consequent seri- 
ous loss in and interruption of trade in general which the correspond- 
ence respecting the franchise and representation in this Republic 
carried in its train. Her Majesty's Government have recently pressed 
for an early settlement and finally pressed, by your intervention, for 
an answer within forty-eight hours (subsequently somewhat modi- 
fied) to your note of September 12th, replied to by the note of this 
Government of September 15th, and your note of September 25, 
1899, and thereafter further friendly negotiations broke off, and this 
Government received the intimation that the proposal for a final set- 
tlement would shortly be made; but although this promise was once 
more repeated no proposal has up to now reached this Government. 

Military Menaces. 

"Even while friendly correspondence was still going on an in- 
crease of troops on a large scale was introduced by Her Majesty's 
Government and stationed in the neighborhood of the borders of 
this Republic. Having regard to occurrences in the history of this 
Republic which it is unnecessary here to call to mind, this Govern- 
ment felt obliged to regard this military force in the neighborhood 
of its borders as a threat against the independence of the South 
African Republic, since it was aware of no circumstances which 
could justify the presence of such military force in South Africa and 
in the neighborhood of its borders. 

"In answer to an inquiry with respect thereto addressed to his 
Excellency, the High Commissioner, this Government received, to 



NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 365 

its great astonishment, in answer, a veiled insinuation that from the 
side of the Republic (van Republikeinsche zeyde) an attack was 
being made on her Majesty's Colonies, and at the same time a mys- 
terious reference to possibilities whereby it was strengthened in its 
suspicion that the independence of this Republic was being threat- 
ened. As a defensive measure it was therefore obliged to send a 
portion of the burghers of this Republic in order to offer the 
requisite resistance to similar possibilities. 

The Final Demand. 

" Her Majesty's unlawful intervention in the internal affairs of 
this Republic in conflict with the Convention of London, 1884, 
caused by the extraordinary strengthening of troops in the neigh- 
borhood of the borders of this Republic, has thus caused an intoler- 
able condition of things to arise whereto this Government feels 
itself obliged, in the interest not only of this Republic, but also of 
all South Africa, to make an end as soon as possible, and feels itself 
called upon and obliged to press earnestly and with emphasis for an 
immediate termination of this state of things and to request her 
Majesty's Government to give it the assurance : 

" (^) That all points of mutual difference shall be regulated 
by the friendly course of arbitration or by whatever amicable way 
may be agreed upon by this Government with her Majesty's Gov- 
ernment. 

'' {b) That the troops on the borders of this Republic shall be 
instantly withdrawn. 

" [c] That all reinforcements of troops which have arrived in 
South Africa since ist June, 1899, shall be removed from South 
Africa within a reasonable time, to be agreed upon with this Gov- 
ernment, and with a mutual assurance and guarantee on the part 
of this Government that no attack upon or hostilities against any 
portion of the possessions of the British Government shall be made 
by the Republic during further negotiations within a period of time 
to be subsequently agreed upon between the Governments, and 
this Government will, on compliance therewith, be prepared to 
withdraw the armed burghers of this Republic from the borders, 



366 NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 

" {d) That her Majesty's troops which are now on the high seas 
shall not be landed in any port of South Africa. 

" This Government must press for an immediate and affirma- 
tive answer to these four questions, and earnestly requests her 
Majesty's Government to return such an answer before or upon 
Wednesday, the nth October, 1899, not later than 5 o'clock P. M., 
and it desires further to add that in the event of unexpectedly no 
satisfactory^ answer being received by it within that interval [it] will, 
with great regret, be compelled to regard the action of her Majesty's 
Government as a formal declaration of war, and will not hold itself 
responsible for the consequences thereof, and that in the event of 
any further movements of troops taking place within the above- 
mentioned time in the nearer directions of our borders this Govern- 
ment will be compelled to regard that also as a formal declaration 
of war. I have, &c., 

^*F. W. Reitz, State Secretary." 

**A11 South Africa." 

The reference to "all South Africa " in this ultimatum was most 
significant. It was construed by the British Government to mean 
that an attempt was being made to unite the entire Dutch popula- 
tion, in Cape Colony and elsewhere, in a revolt to throw off British 
rule, and to establish a Dutch Republic, or United States of South 
Africa. There seems little doubt that many of the Boer leaders had 
such a plan. It had been more or less openly admitted by Mr. 
Reitz, the Transvaal Secretary of State, and other founders and 
leaders of the Afrikander Bond. Their purpose was to found an 
Afrikander nation, a South African community imbued with the 
sentiment of nationality as well as the solidarity of common interest, 
and based on the Dutch race and language instead of the English. 
During the hundred years the British had held the country they had 
never thoroughly mastered the Cape "Dutch" (as the descendants 
of Holland, France and Germany in South Africa are there called), 
simply because they had not taken the trouble to do it, or had 
deemed conciliation the wiser, as well as the pleasanter and nobler, 
policy. Some of the Dutch acquiesced, others openly resisted. 



NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 367 

Until Mr. Rhodes introduced a strong British element into the far 
interior by founding Rhodesia, you might almost have regarded 
Afrikanderism — if we may coin the word for this Afrikander nation- 
alist movement— as rising like Africa itself from the coast inwards. 
Around the coast, at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, 
Durban, you find a British feeling, compounded of affection for the 
Queen, love of the "Old Country" (in South Africa always called 
"Home"), and pride in membership of the British Empire. There 
is in these towns as fine a British patriotism as in any Canadian or 
Australian town, whilst Afrikanderism of the anti-British type is 
either very fiat and low or absent altogether. Five hundred miles 
inland there is a marked difference, and a thousand miles from Cape 
Town you have the uncompromising Republican anti-British Afri- 
kanderism of Pretoria, heightened by the calculating intrigue of lately 
imported Hollanders and other Europeans. 

An Afrikander Nation. 

In April, 1898, the Bloemfontein "Express" said: "In South 
Africa there exists a strong feeling of nationality ; in the course of 
time a nation will be formed." A correspondent immediately wrote 
to the paper that the great mistake of the times was people's imag- 
ining an Afrikander nation had still to be formed! "There does 
already exist," he asserted, "an Afrikander nation which possesses 
nine-tenths of South Africa's surface, and with whom the Englishman 
can incorporate himself as the Hollander or German can, provided 
he adapts himself to the language, customs and morals of the Afri- 
kandersT 

That is to say, if the English people from Great Britain, and 
those already resident in South Africa, would consent to give up 
English and see the Dutch " taal " made the compulsory official lan- 
guage as it was in the Transvaal ; if they would agree to treat the 
natives as inferiors, as serfs, without political rights, without the 
right of education beyond at the most reading and writing, and to be 
degraded by physical punishment at the absolute will of their white 
masters ; if they would agree to the Dutch Reformed Church being 
made the State Church of South Africa ; if they would eliminate 



368 NEGOTIATIONS ENDED. 

the imperial factor from South Africa, they might be permitted to 
become citizens of the Afrikander nation. 

There is no doubt whatever that these were the poHtics of a 
mass of the South African " Dutch," so far as these easy-going 
people allowed themselves to be led into politics at all. The two 
active forces working to the one end have been the Boer Republics, 
especially in the first instance the Transvaal, and the Afrikander 
Bond. The main principle of the Afrikander Bond was ''under the 
guidance of Providence, the foundation of a pure nationality, and 
the preparation of our people for the establishment of a United 
South Africa ; " in short, as sub-section (J?) of Article III of the 
Bond's program, adopted on March 4, 1889, says: "The promo- 
tion of South Africa's independence" {zelfstandigheid) — self-stand- 
inghood. 

Such was the formidable spirit of revolt which Great Britain 
was called upon to confront — and to quell — or let her Empire be 
partitioned. 




Mrs. Kruger, Wife of the President. 



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CHAPTER XXIX 



Sir Alfred Mllner, British Governor of the Cape— Beginning a Great 
Career— In Politics— A Born Diplomatist— Personal Traits— The 
British Commander — In the Thick of It— From Sheer 
Fatigue— Bulier and the Drunkard— Buller on Col- 
ley's Blunder. 



A HISTORY of the Transvaal war would be sorely incomplete 
without some account of one of the foremost figures in the 
negotiations that preceded it. A few months before the war 
began Sir Alfred Milner was scarcely known outside of the 
British Empire ; and within it was slightly known as a young man 
who had done some good work under Lord Cromer in Egypt, and 
who had been appointed Governor of Cape Colony and British High 
Commissioner for South Africa. And then, suddenly, he became 
one of the most talked-of men in the world. Of such are the 
beginnings of fame. 

It is perhaps somewhat curious that, bearing in mind the high 
position he has won for himself at an early age, his popular recogni- 
tion has been so long delayed. The explanation probably is that 
Milner's reputation is built upon a foundation of solid hard work 
and sound achievement, which had little in it likely to appeal to the 
public imagination. His meeting with '' Uncle Paul," at Bloemfon- 
tein, was the first event of any dramatic or human interest in his 
ofificial career. And before his work forced him into public notice 
Milner was not the man to court it. He either lacks the great and 
subtle art of self-advertisement or he is indifferent to it. On every 
rung of the ladder his foremost endeavor has been to win the confi- 
dence and approval of those to whom he is responsible without ever 
turning his head to inquire what the lookers-on might be thinking of 
his performance. This unfailing devotion to duty, this intense 
24 C369) 



370 SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 

absorption in the work that Hes to his hand, is perhaps one of the 
reasons why Milner has dimbed so rapidly to so high a station. He 
always made up his mind as to the goal before him, and he always 
pursued it without faltering. He may have had his moments of 
despondency and of failure — if so, he has kept them to himself. 

Beginning- a Great Career. 

He began his climbing early, as a man who has to make his 
way in the world ought to do. Educated for a few years in Ger- 
many, he finished up his early studies by taking all the prizes there 
were to be had at King's College. He then matriculated at Oxford, 
and came under the discerning eye of the late master of Balliol. 
" Jowett's Kindergarten " has never trained a more brilliant group of 
young men for public life than were the undergraduates of Milner's 
year. The Duke of Bedford, Sir Charles Dilke, Sir Edward Grey, 
and Mr. H. H. Asquith, were among his contemporaries. Milner 
easily held his own among them. A fluent speaker and a pretty 
wit, he became a noted debater at the Union, and was universally 
regarded as a young man with a future. He is still a typical Oxford 
man to-day, with his affection for his old 'varsity undiminished, 
though he still holds the distorted views of the Balliol men of Dr. 
Jowett's time, who vainly imagine that the 'varsity was made for 
Balliol, and not Balliol for the 'varsity. 

It was in the busy little world of Oxford that he first learned that 
he holds his own with ease against his fellows, without regard to the 
advantages of wealth and parentage ; and, being ambitious, he took 
the lesson of self-confidence and self-help to heart. When he took 
a brilliant '' first " in 1881, New College elected him to a fellowship. 
But the university microcosm had by this time become too cramped 
for him ; there were other worlds to conquer. 

Throwing up his fellowship he turned his boats behind him by 
adopting journalism as his profession. He joined the staff of the 
"Pall Mall Gazette" in its unregenerated and radical days, and 
worked under the editorship of Mr. Stead and Mr. John Morley. 
But he never lost sight of his ambitions for political life, and many 
were ready to help him. 



SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 37 1 

In Politics. 

In 1855 we find him fighting the Harrow election of that year 
as Gladstonian candidate. Though a Liberal by conviction and pro- 
fession, he had far too clear and strong a head to make all the fads 
and foibles of his party his own. He was even then one of the 
pioneer preachers of the doctrine of '*Sane Imperialism," and was 
more inclined to glory in than to shuffle off the burden of Empire, 
according to the gospel of the Manchester school. While, there- 
fore, his talents gained him the consideration of the Liberal leaders, 
his stout patriotism won him the regard of the Opposition. He 
was always acceptable to either party. There was too much sweet 
reasonableness about his politics for him to make political enemies. 
This was proved convincingly enough at the complimentary banquet 
given in his honor on his appointment to the Governorship of the 
Cape some ten years later, when Mr. Balfour and Mr. Asquith, Mr. 
Chamberlain and Mr. Morley rose in turn to chant his praises and 
to wish him luck. 

In 1887 he became one of Mr. Goschen's private secretaries. 
He had already come under the notice of the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer. When replying at some political dinner or other to the 
speech of the guest of the evening, the undergraduate, yet academi- 
cally and politically in statu pupillari, attacked the great man's 
views with remarkable ability and tactful courtesy. Mr. Goschen 
kept a benevolent eye on his young critic, and to him in the first 
place belongs the merit of having "discovered" Milner. In 1889, 
as Assistant-Secretary of Finance, he was apprenticed to the greatest 
of administrators. His apprenticeship under Lord Cromer must 
have been of inestimable advantage to him in grasping the details 
of his present office. It was Egypt, too, that made his name, for it 
was at Cairo that he collected the mass of material which he after- 
wards elaborated in his "England in Egypt." Few books of this 
generation have made a quicker or more lasting reputation for their 
author. It came at a timely moment, when the policy of scuttle was 
still in the air. It was written with a full sense of responsibility, with 
statesmanlike reserve and with consummate tact ; but every page of 



372 SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 

it glowed with enthusiasm for the achievement of a noble work and 
the pride of a strong patriotism. The Government showed its 
appreciation of the work by appointing its author Chairman of the 
Board of Inland Revenue, while society made him the ''lion " of the 
season as far as a man of his modesty and his imperviousness to the 
wiles of femininity could be brought to allow himself to be lionized. 
In his private life at this time he acquired his remarkable gift 
for dodging invitations ; in his official capacity he learned the gentle 
art of Budget-making under two past-masters in the craft. Sir William 
Harcourt and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. He has been known to 
refer to this phase of his experience with something like a shudder. 
It was, no doubt, invaluable training ; but it must have been depress- 
ing work. Imagine existence in an atmosphere of Death Duties 
and Board of Trade Returns ! From these tasks the retirement of 
Lord Rosmead recalled him to the more active and stirring life after 
which his heart lusted, and for which he was so conspicuously fitted. 
The office was one of supreme importance, and of great responsi- 
bility. It demanded qualities of patience, strength, and statesman- 
ship of no common order. The Jameson raid had just heated the 
vexed cauldron of South African politics to boiling point. A single 
false move might at any moment bring about a disastrous explosion. 
Sir Alfred Milner was the man chosen to sit on the safety-valve. 

A Born Diplomatist. 

As a soothinor lotion for hot heads, and as an oiled feather for 
jarring political machinery, the Governor of the Cape is unrivaled. 
If any living Englishman could have conciliated "Uncle Paul," Mil- 
ner was the man to do it. Imperturbable, unemotional and of the 
most winning manner, which always impresses him whom it is desir- 
able to impress that all the Milnerian sympathy and interest is cen- 
tred in him, he is a diplomat of most insinuating nature. He has a 
knack of throwing himself back in a chair and cooing questions, with 
half-closed eyes and neatly dovetailed fingers, in an attitude of rest- 
fulness and repose that would win the confidence of a Boer police- 
man. " He drew out all I knew — turned me inside out, in fact" — 
a well-known journalist, who had vainly essayed to interview Sir 



SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 373 

Alfred, told me— ''and then he talked for a quarter of an hour in the 
most charming and confidential manner about — absolutely nothing 
at all." 

He is always busy and never in a hurry. His study sky-high 
under the roof of a tall house in Duke street looks absolutely chaotic, 
yet he can always lay hands on everything he wants. That, of 
course, is when he is home for a holiday and is only working twelve 
hours a day. When he is in full harness at Government House, the 
first moment of leisure he can find to glance through the London 
papers is usually some time after midnight. Yet he is always mak- 
ing new work for himself It is characteristic of the man that he set 
himself to learn Dutch in order to be able to talk to his Dutch 
friends in their own language. For he is not a linguist. He him- 
self recounts that people who have to hear him talk French take 
some time to recover from it. Possibly it is owing to his gluttony 
for work that "Who's Who" says rather brutally of him : ''Recrea- 
tions: Nothing special." "Who's Who" has obviously never seen 
Sir Alfred Milner, K. C. B., G. C. M. G., playing tennis. 

Personal Traits. 

Perhaps his most charming trait is the absence, despite his 
rapid advancement, of all self-consciousness. Unlike many other 
newly great men, he is never oppressed by the sense of his own 
greatness ; consequently he can do a kindly act — where there is no 
particular reason, beyond the innate kindliness of his nature, why 
he should do It — without the least savor of patronage. And of 
these he does many. One day an obscure acquaintance, with no 
claims on his consideration, wrote to remind him of a forgotten re- 
quest. In the pressure of affairs before the Bloemfontein Confer- 
ence, Sir Alfred Milner, K. C. B., &c , Governor of Cape Colony 
and her Majesty's High Commissioner, and so on, and the hardest- 
worked man in South Africa, found time to write him an autograph 
letter of consolation. It is a small thing of course, but it shows the 
kindly nature of the man. He is still young, though there is now a 
sprinkling of silver in his close-cropped black hair. " Uncle Paul" 
and his Outlanders may have had something to do with this. 



374 SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 

The British Commander. 

General Sir Redvers Henry Duller, V. C, G. C. B., K. C. M. G., 
etc., who was sent to Africa to take supreme command of the British 
forces, was born in 1839 ; but he carries his three-score years well. 

He commenced his military career forty years ago as an ensign 
in the 60th Rifles and received his first baptism of fire in the Chinese 
War of i860. In the same year he also received his first step in 
promotion. In 1873 ^^^ underwent the hardships of the Ashantee 
war, and was present at the capture of Coomassie. For distin- 
guished conduct in that engagement he was honored with a C. B., 
and was promoted brevet-major. 

It was in the Zulu War that he earned his V. C. In command 
of his Light Horse, he fought in a billy-cock hat and shooting-jacket, 
and proved himself a born leader of men. Archibald Forbes has 
drawn Buller at this period of his life : " Buller was a silent, satur- 
nine, bloodthirsty man ; as resolute a fighter as ever drew breath." 

March 28, 1879, was a memorable day for Buller. At dawn he 
led a small body of troopers up the Inhlobane Mountain, where they 
were surprised by an overwhelming number of Zulus. For some 
hours the fight waged fiercely and deadly. 

In the Thick of It. 

He saw one of his troopers hemmed in by Zulus, and making a 
brave stand against fearful odds. Buller promptly cut a way for 
himself through the swarming blacks and rescued the hard-pressed 
soldier, who, however, was destined to be killed later in the day. 

This gallant act on the part of Buller would in itself have gained 
him the V. C., but it was only the forerunner of a series of brave 
deeds which he performed during that same tussle with the Zulus. 
So crushing were they in number that Buller saw it was necessary 
to retire, and the Zulus rushed down the hill in hot pursuit. Seven 
men, with Lieutenant Everitt in charge, were deputed to cover the 
retreat of the main body. Suddenly Sir Redvers saw that Lieuten- 
ant Everitt's horse had been killed and that the officer was in immi- 
nent danger. Thereupon Sir Redvers pluckily galloped back and 



SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 375 

dragged Lieutenant Everitt out of the reach of his pursuers. Then, 
snatching a carbine from the Keutenant's hands, Sir Redvers began 
to blaze at the on-rushing blacks, being gallantly supported by three 
troopers, and thus the quartette kept the Zulus at bay until the 
safety of the lieutenant was assured. 

While galloping back to the main body, Sir Redvers espied a 
dismounted trooper, whose fate seemed to be sealed. Duller 
dashed to the rescue, took the soldier on his own horse, and rode 
forward. 

Yet another officer, Captain D'Arcy, was saved by Sir Redvers 
that day, and at night, before snatching a brief rest, he went out to 
look for men who had fallen out of the ranks. These he success- 
fully brought into the camp. Sir Redvers earned the V. C. many 
times that day. 

It goes without saying that he has a very high standard of duty. 
When the Prince Imperial's tragic death was reported to Sir Redvers 
Duller by the officer who was acting as the Prince's companion, 
Duller turned full on him and, in a tone there was no mistaking, 
asked, *' Dut how is it that you are alive?" The effect on the un- 
fortunate officer was crushing. 

Martinet though Sir Redvers is, he can unbend at times. A 
certain principal medical officer attached to Sir Redvers' command 
in Africa asked as part of the equipment for the field hospitals two 
fire engines ! This extraordinary request, on being forwarded to the 
headquarters staff, caused no end of amusement, which was added 
to by this minute in the handwriting of Sir Redvers Duller: ''Will 
P.M.O. kindly state his reasons for wanting fire-engines. Is it to 
extinguish the burning sands of the desert? " 

Duller and the Drunkard. 

In one of his letters sent home from South Africa in 1879 Mr. 
Forbes tells a story that will be read with interest just now. A 
young Englishman of good family had been appointed to a commis- 
sion in the Frontier Light Horse under Colonel Duller's command, 
but had turned out a troublesome character. It was said that he 
had become subject to fits, and occasionally gave way to drink. 



2)^6 SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 

''Last night before lights were out," said Mr. Forbes, "I heard 
him swearing to himself in a very excited way about some grievance 
in the way of extra duty which he fancied he had. Later, when the 
camp was quiet, he discharged his revolver in his tent, and there 
was naturally a general commotion. No alarm was sounded, but in 
an instant every man turned out and fell into his place, with the 
regularity of machinery and total absence of confusion that struck 
me as testifying strongly to the fine discipline and morale of the 
force. The cause ascertained, the troops were ordered to turn in, 
and the young officer was ordered to consider himself under arrest. 
The camp was scarcely quiet again when he repeated the foolish 
performance of firing his revolver, and there was a repetition of the 
universal turn-out. The General and his staff" — General Wood, 
that is — ''came round into Buller's camp, and summary and strong 
measures were determined on. But the young fellow was in his 
tent, rabidly breathing out threats to slaughter, and protesting that 
he would shoot any one who attempted to enter. Major Cleg was 
equal to the occasion. He had the tent ropes loosened, and down 
came the tent on its obstreperous inmate, effectually bonneting him. 
He was at once seized, bound and, under a guard, conveyed into the 
artillery^ camp, where he was made fast to a gun wheel, a blanket 
given him, and he was so secured from further mischief. The poor 
devil raved wildly all night. It is an evidence of what influence 
Duller exerts over those under his command that the burden of his 
constant cry was: "For God's sake send me away before Duller 
comes back ! Don't let me see Duller. I never can face Duller 
again after this.' Duller at present is absent on a reconnoissance. 
He overlooked the young fellow's previous backsliding, and had 
saved his life at Zlobane. He had his prayer ; this morning his 
accounts were made up. The money due to him was paid ; General 
Ward, in a word, dismissed him from his force, with the stern warn- 
ing that if he came back he would be flogged as an unauthorized 
camp follower. He was set on his pony, and escorted by an officer 
and a file of men to the other side of the Dlood River, and there 
turned adrift on the world." 



SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 377 

"Buller," writes Mr. Forbes in another communication, "is a born 
commander of a scouting force. His audacity in pushing onward 
might seem to the superficial observer to border on recklessness, 
but he is wise and cautious in his very recklessness. As his long, 
lithe column moves forward he quickly dispatches parties to the 
right and left, to ascend the hills and scan the view therefrom, to 
descend into and beat out flanking valleys and destroy deserted 
roads, and to make good the exploration of the whole section of 
country which he has set himself to scout His men quarter the 
ground like pointers." 

Duller on Colley's Blunder. 

A story of General Duller, as told by Sir James Sivewright to a 
friend of the editor of ''The Pelican," relates to the time when the 
General was military secretary to Sir Leicester Smythe, with the 
rank of major. One Sunday Major Duller appeared at Newlands, 
the home of Sir James Sivewright, in low spirits about Natal. He 
asked : " Does Sir George Colley know this African ground as we 
know it? He may be tempted to go up one of those infernal hills. 
Very well, he'll climb one of them, but not really get to the top ; or, 
if he does get there, he won't understand that the top's no use 
unless you know which ridge to guard. And, again, I ask you, does 
he know our African hills? " 

Mr. Sivewright drove him into Cape Town and got the wires 
connected with the base. The news was reassuring. Sir George 
Colley had moved out in force the day before, and was now, it was 
understood, in command of the Doer position. The Boers were 
probably retreating. Mr. Sivewright told this radiantly to Major 
Duller. The Major was merely more melancholic than before. 
"You'll see," he said, "it's the very thing I told you. Colley has 
gone up some mountain. He'll think he commands the Doer posi- 
tion, but he won't. It takes an African to do that. Please God, the 
Boers have been bluffed and have bolted." 

News came later that Sir George Colley had been killed by the 
Boers on Majuba Hill Duller and his guest went straight for the 
General's quarters — Major Duller's general, Sir Leicester Smythe — 



378 SIR ALFRED MILNER, BRITISH GOVERNOR OF THE CAPE. 

and demanded to see him. The miHtary secretary briefly told his 
chief what had happened. 

"And now, sir," said the masterful man, taking the reins into 
his hand, " I'll tell you what we must do. You must leave with me 
for Natal to-night to take over the command. You're senior officer 
in this country, and it's your right. We must catch the Boers on 
the hop. Here is Mr. Sivewright. He'll go to the Union Company 
and get you a small steamer, and we'll start to-night at 7. Just take 
your kit and yourself and So-and-So." 

The old gentlem.an remonstrated. He must at least see the 
Governor, he said. 

"As soon as you see Sir Hercules," retorted his subordinate, 
"he'll stop you. This isn't the time for 'waiting for instructions 
from England.' We must go now. It's our — I beg your pardon, 
sir — it's my chance in life." 

The General agreed, the appointed hour came, the steamer lay 
in the harbor ready, the conspirators met and waited for their leader. 
No General Sir Leicester Smythe arrived ; there came a note from 
him instead. He had seen the Governor, after all, and His Excel- 
lency had insisted on their "awaiting instructions from England." 
The editor of "The Pelican" remarks: "Had the Major Duller of 
that vanished Sunday had his way he would not now be going to 
pluck those laurels which eighteen years ago he vainly sought to 
force upon another." 



CHAPTER XXX 



Outbreak of the War— The Great Exodus— Commandeering— Driving 

Out the Bishop— A Multitude of Exiles— British Preparations— 

Under-Rating the Boers— Beginning the War. 



THE war began on October ii. For days and even weeks 
before that date there was an exodus of Outlanders, chiefly 
British and Americans, from the Transvaal. It was the 
third such exodus in twenty years, and incomparably the 
greatest of all. After the brief war of 1881, Pretoria was almost 
depopulated. If was sad in those days to see the bullock-wagons 
and the mule-wagons taking away their living freight, and to hear 
the sighs of the little remnant left behind with "no heart for any- 
thing," and to listen to the words of some whose worst forebodings, 
disregarded then, have now proved true in many a detail and to 
the very letter. 

During the Jameson raid and the ignominious proceedings 
then, there was an exodus far greater from Johannesburg. Never 
will be forgotten the scene at the Elandsfontein station. Young 
women with children huddled into open coal and sheep trucks 
with their little baggage for a night journey across the cold high 
veldt, with fierce storms threatening, and in many cases black and 
white crowded up together. What scenes, what tales of crowded 
trains, all in them standing "packed like herrings in a barrel," 
with neither meat nor drink, glad of the drops of water and small 
supplies of food the good people of Bloemfontein brought to the 
passing sufferers ! 

The Great Exodus. 

But those two clearances were as nothing to the third ex- 
odus ; for hundreds then there were thousands now. Not merely 
strong men houseless, or women and children fleeing through 

C379) 



380 OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 

groundless or exaggerated fears, but a deliberately enforced removal 
from homes built up by years of steady work, Insisted upon by an 
arbitrary government, tolerated and indulged so long by England. 

For weeks before the last prominent Englishman joined the 
throng of exiles, the stations at Johannesburg and Pretoria had 
been crowded with thousands pressing to escape, some by Cape 
Town, some by Natal, others by Delagoa Bay, from the threatened 
war and the tender mercies of the Boers. Men tried to realize that 
the Boers were not savages and would not hurt the helpless, though 
their cruel threats showed cruel hearts, ready for cruel deeds, as op- 
portunity afforded. ''Not a woman or child should be left alive." 
''Johannesburg should be destroyed." "Pretoria again reduced to 
what the English left behind them." Those who knew them and re- 
membered what they had done before, knew well of what such 
speakers were capable. Yet it was almost amusing to hear their 
talk and boastings. They were going " to take Natal ; " "to drive 
the English into the sea;" "not to suffer the expected English 
troops to land;" "to be in Durban In thirty days ;" "and then the 
only question was what they should do with the ships." And these 
were not the boasts and foolish speeches of ignorant Boers alone — 
such as one whose only anxiety as to "driving his ox- wagon across 
the sea " was the supply of forage — but the boasts of educated sons 
of South African professional men, and such-like, whose education 
was the outcome of English institutions. 

" Commandeering." 

Then the war commenced, and trains of refugees were super- 
seded by commandos for Natal, and Mafeking, and Kimberley. 
Everything available was "commandeered," horses, money, stores. 
Throughout three days the President was reported in the papers as 
deprecating the departures. "Why did they go?" "they need 
not;" " they would be quite safe;" "he did not wish them to 
leave," etc., while no resolution was taken, or assurance given which 
could have lessened fear, or stayed departures. At length — when 
tens of thousands had left their all—this was given, but how kept 
the sequel will show ; houses by force deserted by their owners, 



OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 38 1 

locked and taken possession of by those burghers whom the Presi- 
dent had, for his own purposes, settled on the borders of Pretoria 
and Johannesburg, the very scum of Boerdom. 

At last martial law was proclaimed, and ''permits" to stay 
were to be applied for ; all without them to leave within eight days. 
For the granting of these "permits" a small commission was ap- 
pointed, the most anti-English officials they could select. Many 
applied, wishing to stay by their homes whatever might befall, 
and after a few days came out a list of those allowed to do so. 
To some an oath was offered, so craftily worded that many were 
ready to take it, until they learned or saw the snare that lay be- 
neath the words which could have made them liable to be sent 
to the front after all, fulfilling the severest of burgher duties with- 
out even then receiving one burgher right. 

Driving Out the Bishop. 

One case, perhaps, may be worth special notice, having more 
than a private interest attaching to it, as an illustration of the 
tactics adopted. The Bishop of Pretoria had lived there these 
twenty years, an old man, his life spent in his work, taking no 
part in politics, never publicly disparaging them if strong in 
speech in private, impartial m expression and regret of English 
as well as Boer misrule. He desired to remain and minister to 
the remnant of his flock, almost all burghers and subjects of the 
State, and dispersed throughout it. No one dreamed of his re- 
moval. The President had assured him through friends high in 
office and position that he would be undisturbed. On Tuesday, 
October 17, the final list appeared; the Bishop was not in it, 
though the same paper announced his liberty to stay. The Pres- 
ident would write nothing, the com.mission would give no per- 
mission, and on that afternoon it was clear that he must go before 
the next evening. 

He left Pretoria for Delagoa Bay, all other routes being closed, 
and it was really affecting to see the number of young as well as 
old who had gathered at the station to bid him and his wife farewell. 
The threat had been that the Bishop should be put over the border 



352 OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 

in a coal truck. This insult was avoided by the course taken, and 
by the kindness of a fellow-passenger, and not without some " palm 
oil," comfortable accommodation was secured for the party. 

The train left Pretoria at 10.30 p. m. on Wednesday, October 18. 
In the early morning a train was overtaken full of blacks, Indian 
and native, all in open trucks — men, women and children — unshel- 
tered, to cross some of the coldest of the uplands of the higher veldt 
districts. Daylight also showed the composition of the train the 
Bishop traveled by — cattle trucks, coal trucks, these latter sometimes 
loaded, the "passengers" sitting on top of the coal, luggage vans 
and vans mostly used for natives, crowded with young and old, 
families of black and white. What tales of sorrow, with now and 
again some detail of peculiar sadness, were heard ! — wives with 
children separated from husbands who had been sent away before, 
a husband beguiled into taking the oath as a member of the town 
guard, and then on the strength of it ordered to the front, and on 
refusal sent away at an hour's notice, leaving wife and little ones 
unprovided for and unguarded behind. 

A Multitude of Exiles. 

In good time Lorenzo Marques was reached. The small com- 
munity, rising to the occasion, had formed a relief committee, 
opened shelters and provided food to the utmost of their power. 
Ladies and gentlemen met each train and did their best for every- 
one, and so the next day, through heavy rain, and the next, and 
Sunday also, trains were met, crowds cared for, and thousands 
shipped away to Cape Town, Durban and India. In spite of this 
many were obliged to sleep in the open, under heavy rains and 
storms, from sheer lack of accommodation in the place. 

All classes — Portuguese and Germans, no less than the English 
residents — did all they could, giving up houses and beds for the 
homeless and supplying food for the hungry. The British Consul, 
Mr. Ross, and his wife were foremost in deeds of kindness. 

It is not possible to give numbers accurately, but certainly more 
than 100 persons were thus sent into exile, of whom the vast ma- 
jority were in abject destitution. Driven away from their homes. 



OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 383 

property and all means of support, they became charges upon the 
bounty of the British nation. 

British Preparations. 

Meantime, Great Britain began to prepare for the campaign. 
She had been slow in doing so. For many weeks before the war 
began, the Transvaal and the Orange State were busy night and 
day, enlisting and drilling troops, hiring mercenaries, importing 
munitions of war, and placing themselves in readiness for the im- 
pending conflict. But it was only on September 7th that the British 
Government sanctioned the reinforcement of the garrison by 10,000 
men for the defense of Natal. It was only on September 29th — 
that is to say, within a fortnight of the actual declaration of war by 
the Boers — that the Cabinet decided on the dispatch of a large field 
force and to call up 25,000 men of the Reserve, the total field force 
amounting to 47,000 men. It was necessary, as Mr. Wyndham 
said, that the Empire should display an unmistakable exhibition of its 
strength in order to rescue one of its greatest dependencies from 
the horrors of doubtful and dilatory operations. 

Underratingr the Boers. 

The British made at the outset the serious mistake of under- 
rating the strength of the foe they had to meet. Based on the usual 
proportions of sex and age, it was reckoned that the population of 
the Transvaal could not furnish more than 20,000 men, and the 
Orange State 15,000; or 35,000 in all. With the pride of race it 
was reckoned that one Briton w^as a match for two Boers. There 
would be, men said, merely a '' military promenade " from Cape Town 
to Pretoria, and the war would be over. British officers going to 
the war marked their baggage " Pretoria, via Cape Town," and cal- 
culated to eat their Christmas dinners in the Transvaal capital. A 
dreadful disillusionment came when it was found that, with foreign 
mercenaries whom they had hired and Dutchmen from the Cape 
who had joined them, the Boers had more than 65,000 well-drilled 
men, equipped with arms and ammunition actually superior to those 
of the British Army. 



384 OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 

Then the British Government made haste to send out more 
men. Steamships by the dozen were chartered to convey an army 
of 80,000 men to the Cape. The troops came from Great Britain 
and Ireland, from India, from Canada, and from AustraUa, the 
colonies vying with each other in zeal to aid the mother country. 
But the Boers did not wait for them. Having taken the initiative 
in declaring war, they hastened to strike the first blow and gain the 
advantage offered to them by the unprepared state of the British. 
The Orange Free State joined the Transvaal in the war, and within 
an hour of thn time set in the ultimatum, the armies of both the 
States were swarming across the border into the British colonies. 

Beginningr the War. 

Five distinct but concerted movements were made by the 
Boers. One was an advance of a large Transvaal army, under 
General Joubert himself, past Majuba Hill and through Laing's Nek, 
into the apex of the wedge of Natal, menacing Newcastle, Ingogo, 
and other towns. These places were not fortified nor garrisoned, 
and so no opposition was made to the Boers until they reached the 
neighborhood of Glencoe and Dundee. The second was an Orange 
State army, which moved from Harrismith, over the Drakensberg 
by Von Reenen's and Tintwa Passes, and advanced toward Lady- 
smith. The third was an Orange army, under President Steyn, 
which began operating along the Orange River, from Colesberg to 
Aliwal North. The fourth was a large Transvaal army, under Gen- 
eral Cronje, which laid siege to Kimberley, where Mr. Cecil Rhodes 
and Colonel Kekewich had a small garrison. The fifth was a Trans- 
vaal army, which laid siege to Mafeking, where Colonel Baden- 
Powell and a handful of British soldiers stood at bay. 

According to the Boer ultimatum, which virtually gave the 
British Government forty-eight hours to clear out of the country, a 
state of war was declared at 5 p. m. on Wednesday, October nth, 
and fighting commenced. The first incident of the war was the 
capture of an armored train by the Boers at Kraaipan, a place forty 
miles south of Mafeking. The train was derailed by means of a 
mine, and then mercilessly shelled by artillery even after a flag of 



3 



S 



»} 

^ 









Defences of the Kimberley Diamond flines. 



OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. 385 

surrender had been displayed. Lieutenant Nesbitt was in charge. 
He and his seven men were all wounded and taken prisoners. The 
engine-driver, notwithstanding a wound, managed to crawl away on 
his stomach, and reported the disaster. The first object of attack 
by the Boers was, of course, the railway which runs along their 
western frontier on its way to Buluwayo. The rails were torn up, 
bridges destroyed, and telegraphic wires cut. They very soon 
isolated Mafeking, in which was Colonel Baden-Powell's small force. 
Kimberley was loosely invested. Vryburg, midway between Mafe- 
king and Kimberley, evacuated at the request of the townspeople 
(chiefly Dutch) on the approach of a strong Boer force with artil- 
lery. A pathetic incident was reported here, viz. : that Major Scott, 
the officer in charge of the Cape police, at Vryburg, shot himself 
through chagrin at being compelled to surrender. 

The ultimatum expired on October ii. That very day the 
Boers seized a railroad train between Ladysmith and Harrismith, 
and cut telegraph wires in Natal. The next day, October 12, saw 
the Boers enter Natal by way of Borta's Pass, Laing's Nek and 
Ingogo, Wakkerstroom, Tolls Nek and Wool Nek, all converging 
upon Newcastle. The Orange State army occupied Albertlna, on 
the way to Ladysmith The attack upon the armored train at 
Kraaipan also took place. On October 13 the British abandoned 
Newcastle, and there was fighting at Mafeking. October 14 saw 
the Boers occupy Newcastle, and more fighting at Mafeking. On 
October 1 5 the Boers cut the railroad and telegraph at Spytfontein, 
cutting off Kimberley from Cape Colony ; there was another armored 
train fight south of Kimberley, and Vryburg was betrayed into the 
hands of the Boers. On October 1 7 the British Parliament met. On 
October 18 there was a skirmish at Octon Homes, in Natal, near 
Ladysmith, and the Boers reached the neighborhood of Glencoe. 
On October 19 the Boers cut the railroad at Elandslaagte, between 
Glencoe and Ladysmith and captured a train. And the next day 
came the first real battle of the war. 



25 



CHAPTER XXXI 



The Boer Advance— The First Shot— Hot Fighting— On the Hill- 
General Symons's Courage— A Comical Sight— Abandoning 
Dundee— Flight of the People— A Veritable Panic- 
Entry of the Boers— Scenes of Loot— Boers in 
full Control. 



NO attempt was made by the British to oppose the advance of 
the Boers across the mountains and down the ''wedge of 
Natal." The large town of Newcastle, in upper Natal, was 
abandoned and the Boers occupied it without resistance. The 
first stand was made by the British at Dundee and its railroad 
junction, Glencoe. There was a considerable British army, of about 
seven thousand men, there, and though it was confronted by a much 
larger Boer army, it not only stood its ground but actually took the 
aggressive. The British army was commanded by General Sir 
William Penn Symons, and the Boer army by General Joubert, the 
commander-in-chief. 

The fight that is to make Dundee and Glencoe names famous 
in Natal's military history started early on Friday, October 20, 1899. 
At 2 A. M. one of the British pickets was shot on the De Jager 
Drift road, down which the Doornberg commando were advancing, 
and up to 4.30 a. m. the pickets and patrols in this direction were 
slowly being driven in. At 5 a. m. the Boer commando, between 
eight and nine thousand strong, had taken up positions on Inthalana 
Hill, about a mile to the north of Dundee village, and a small kopje 
separated from the hill by Smith's Nek over which the road from 
Dundee to De Jager's Drift runs. These two positions commanded 
the village and the camp of the Glencoe column. Everything pro- 
ceeded as usual in the British camp at Dundee, and at 5.30 the 
horses were being led down to water. 

(386) 



THE BOER ADVANCE. ^gy 

The First Shot. 

They had not gone far when the first Boer shell dropped into 
camp, striking near the tents of the King's Royal Rifles. This was 
evidently a range-finder. The next shell dropped into the gun-park 
of the 69th Battery. The order was quickly given for the horses to 
be brought back. Meanwhile three batteries were trained on the 
Boer guns on Talana Hill. The first shell found the range, and 
wounded one of the Boer gunners. 

The horses having returned, the 13th and 69th Batteries 
limbered up and awaited orders. At this moment a Boer shell 
struck one of the gunners, taking his head completely off The two 
batteries now galloped out of camp to a position south-east of 
Dundee; the gunners soon found the range, and at 6.^0 the two 
batteries were hard at work. 

Meanwhile the Dublin Fusiliers led the advance on Talana Hill 
towards the Boer right flank, the King's Royal Rifles in the centre 
of the hill, and the Royal Irish Fusiliers on their right. The artillery 
were escorted by half a company of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the 
Hussars and Mounted Infantry watching the flanks. The Leicesters 
and 67th Battery of Artillery were watching the Newcastle road on 
the west. 

Hot Figrhtingr. 

The Boer guns replied slowly, their shells doing little damage, 
only one of the British gunners being wounded in the right hand 
when the batteries had taken up their first position, and in about 
half an hour the Boer guns were silenced. The British artillery 
covered the advance of the " Dubs," King's Rifles, and Royal Irish 
Fusiliers to a deep nullah running parallel with the Boer position. 
Here the order was given for the men to double in extended order 
to Smith's Farm, a homestead surrounded by a plantation at the 
foot of Talana Hill, about four hundred yards distant. This order 
was carried out under a hail of bullets from the Boer position. 
Only four men dropped. The rifle fire grew faster and more furious. 
The two batteries now took up a fresh position south of Talana Hill, 
about 2,000 yards from the Boer firing line. The British were now 



388 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 



within range of their Mauser fire, and for more than three hours, 

although the bullets whistled everywhere, not a man was hit. The 

British were slowly but surely forcing their way up the rocky slope 

of the hill. 

On the Hill. 

As the hours went by the fire from the Boer position on the 
kopje slackened, and finally died away. At about twelve o'clock the 
British had forced their way up to a stone wall running parallel 
with the summit of the hill, about forty yards from the top. The 
two batteries now took up another position, a couple of hundred 
yards further on to the left and nearer to the Boer firing line. 
Occasional shells were fired from this position whenever a party of 
Boers were visible. Signals were now being sent from the stone 
wall up the hillside for the British artillery to cease fire as the men 
were going to rush the Boer lines, and at one o'clock the hill w^as 
taken, and the Boers were in full flight. From the summit the Boer 
commando could be seen, wagons, carts, oxen, men, and horses, 
extending for three miles over the plain, making for Jager's Drift on 
the Buffalo river. 

The Boers deserve every praise for the plucky way in which 
they stuck to their position on the hill through seven hours of awful 
shell fire. It is difficult to estimate their loss, as wagon-loads of 
dead and wounded were taken away. 

General Symons's Courage. 

The British losses were very heavy. General Sir W. Penn 
Symons was mortally wounded early in the fight. He freely exposed 
himself to the Boer bullets, and did not seek to prevent his identity 
being known, being followed by his orderly carrying the lance and 
red pennon. The loss in officers and men of the Dublin Fusiliers, 
King's Rifles, and Fusiliers was very serious. But considering the 
nature of the ground up which the men advanced the wonder was 
that six times as many men were not lost. All along the ridge of 
Talana Hill the Boers had thrown up stone-work as protection, but 
this was useless against shells, which bursting overhead, must have 
killed them by scores. In one heap six Boers lay frightfully torn, 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 389 

and gruesome sights were their dead and wounded from the effect 
of the British shrapnel. 

The sad task of collecting the dead and wounded took 
some time, it being no easy task moving down that rocky slope 
to the homestead, which was turned into a temporary hospital. 
It began to rain heavily, and as the afternoon lengthened it grew 
cold. 

It was a sight never to be forgotten to see what the soldiers 
could stand. One of the " Dubs " shot through the left leg and both 
arms, shivering with cold and soaked by rain, being helped slowly down 
the hill, jocularly asked his two comrades not to let him go, as having no 
arms to protect himself he was sure to fall on his face and spoil his 
beauty. Many incidents of a similar nature could be given. 

But the most impressive sight that day was unselfish " Tommy," 
who, although fighting hard for over seven hours, gladly gave the 
contents of their water-bottles over to the wounded Boers. 

A Comical Sight. 

Immediately after the hill was taken many Boer ponies were 
captured, many of them with all equipments, and even Mausers 
strapped on to the saddles, and it was a comical sight to see " Tommy " 
careering round on Boer mounts over ground which even the Boer 
would have picked his way carefully. 

One of the King's Rifles was in the act of picking off a Boer ; 
he had just pressed the trigger when a Boer popped his head up 
directly in front, with the result he got the bullet through his head. 
"It was quite an accident, sir; you see I was aiming at the other 
man," said the King's Rifleman. 

Abandoning^ Dundee. 

Despite this dearly-won victory, the British decided upon an 
immediate retirement from Dundee, and a concentration at Lady- 
smith, where General Sir George White was encamped with a 
considerable force. The Boer army threatening Dundee was far 
too powerful to be withstood by the remainder of General Symons's 
army. The place was accordingly abandoned, the wounded British 



390 THE BOER ADVANCE. 

soldiers, including General Symons himself, who died a few days 
later, being of necessity left behind in the hospital. 

Early on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 22, it was evident that the 
British camp was being struck, with a view to the removal of the 
forces elsewhere. At the same time it was observable that the 
Boers had taken up a position on the hills to the west of Dundee. 
Then the shelling of the camp and town from their heavy guns began 
again, and it was at once apparent that the range of their guns was 
such that it would be absolutely necessary to evacuate the camp. 
This was accordingly proceeded with in all haste, the shelling of the 
camp continuing from the two hills upon which the Boers had 
established their batteries. 

From both positions the shells were entering the camp, but the 
cannonade did not last long, the British forces retiring quickly 
beyond the range. The camp and the hospital were left behind 
with a great quantity of stores. 

The retirement of the imperial forces created, as might be ex- 
pected, much excitement amongst the townfolk of Dundee, and when 
the report was circulated that General Yule had advised the chairman 
of the local board to see to the immediate evacuation of the town the 
prevailing excitement was considerably increased. 

Flight of the People. 

On Sunday evening the news was received at Dundee that 
reinforcements under Sir George White had arrived at Glencoe, 
and would probably join the force at Dundee in the morning for a 
combined attack upon the Boer position on the neighboring hill. 
This report, however, did not stay the exodus of the people, and 
nearly all the remaining inhabitants of Dundee got ready to leave 
the town. The flight of the refugees on that memorable night was 
a most terrible experience. It was pitch dark, and heavy rain fell in- 
cessantly. People fled from the town on horseback and on foot, hardly 
knowing w^hither they were going. Some found their way to Rowan's 
Farm, others made for De Keker's Farm. Both of these are under 
the Inhambane Mountains. 

The poor refugees reached these places In the most miserable 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 39 I 

plight. Both homesteads were crowded, many of the Dundee Town 
Guard having sought safety there. During the flight some of the 
riff-raff of the town rifled bandoHers on the way, distributing the loot 
amongst themselves. 

A Veritable Panic. 

At De Keker's Farm some detachments of the imperial forces 
were found bivouacked. Their position was then several miles 
south of their old camp. About midnight Mr. Riley, the chairman 
of the Dundee Local Board, arrived at De Keker's Farm with the 
information that he had seen General Yule, who strongly advised 
the refugees to retreat instantly upon Ladysmith, as the Boers were 
all around Dundee. The excitement then gave way to a veritable 
panic. Hurried consultations were held, and as a result small bands 
ol the flying people commenced the long and weary tramp towards 
Ladysmith, walking right throughout the night, drenched to the skin 
by the torrents of rain. 

Altogether there were about 300 Dundee refugees in this retreat, 
amongst them several women and children. The picture was a most 
heartrending one, and the difficulties of the journey terrible in the 
extreme. They formed a long travelling line, plodding hour after 
hour over the sodden veldt. A few stopped in their journey at the 
foot of the Inhambane Mountains, passing the night in a Kaffir kraal. 
Others made their way round the Inhambane Mountains to Umsinga, 
thence, travelling to Greytown and Pietermaritzburg. 

On Monday morning the few inhabitants who still believed that 
British forces would still be found In the neighborhood were startled 
to find that the column had evidently retired during the night from 
the neighborhood of Dundee, whilst it was made perfectly clear 
that they were falling back quickly upon Ladysmith. The equanim- 
ity of the few who had held on to the last was now entirely gone 
and they made rapid preparations for flight. By this time Boers were 
seen swarming upon the surrounding hills. They were in great 
force upon Smith's Hill, from whence they had been driven on Friday. 

The enemy opened fire again from the Impati Mountain, one 
shell striking amongst the hospital tents, which were still left stand- 



392 THE BOER ADVANCE. 

ing Upon the site of the old camp. Thereupon a small party was 
sent from the hospital, with a flag of truce, to the Boer position, 
informing the commandant that they were shelling the hospital, which 
contained their own and our wounded. The commandant, who 
happened to be Erasmus, expressed his regret, and immediately 
gave orders that fire should cease. He said, in extenuation, that he 
had mistaken the Indian hospital attendants for soldiers. 

Entry of the Boers. 

About ten o'clock a small party of Boers suddenly entered 
Dundee. These were almost immediately afterwards followed by a 
large number of others, all mounted and armed. A riotous scene 
followed, the burghers shouting, yelling and rushing through the 
streets, commandeering every horse they could find. 

Soon afterwards a more disciplined contingent arrived carrying 
the Transvaal ensign, with which they proceeded to the court-house, 
taking possession of the building and planting the Transvaal flag 
outside the door. 

Scenes of Loot. 

Dundee was now taken and in the hands of the Boers, who 
informed the few inquiring residents that they would do no harm to 
anyone. They had taken possession of the town and needed provi- 
sions badly. It was not long then before the burghers got entirely 
out of hand, and wholesale looting commenced. Most of the stores 
in the town were broken open, and the contents were either appro- 
priated, scattered about, or handed to onlookers with impartiality 
irrespective of nationality. 

The scene was a most extraordinary and humiliating one to the 
British onlookers, but the Boers evidently enjoyed themselves 
hugely. Man after man of them was sent right off with all manner 
and style of objects attached to his saddle or held in his arms. 
Among other things taken in this way were bags of biscuits, ladies' 
clothing, drapery, and parasols, whilst every man seemed to think it 
incumbent upon himself to have a bottle of liquor slung on either 
side of his saddle. The most interesting article in the way of loot 
was that of a Boer who, after loading his pony with every conceiva- 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 393 

ble kind of plunder, endeavored to pack a bicycle in front of him. 
He succeeded in doing it. All Monday afternoon Boers came and 
went, coming in empty and going off full. 

The Boers mostly retired from the town in the evening, but a 
decent set of fellows remained, nearly all the looting having been 
done by the Boers, who had got out of hand, and came in with the 
sole object of plunder. 

No exception could be taken to the behavior of the Boers who 
formed the town guard of Dundee. No one was molested ; indeed, 
for that matter, only stores were pillaged. 

Boers in Full Control. 

Meanwhile the Boers had made some semblance of governing 
the town. They appointed a town guard, and patrols moved round 
continuously. A proclamation was issued promising safety to the 
well-conducted, and ordering all the inhabitants to be within doors 
by eight o'clock at night. They also appointed their own magistrate, 
and his first duty was to deal with some Kaffir coolies who had been 
arrested on the previous day for looting. Whatever was permissible 
to the white man was certainly not allowable for the Kaffir, and, 
accordingly, Boer justice was meted out to them. 

The Boer commander has been by no means idle. He blew 
up the railway bridge close to the old British camp by dynamite. 
Scouts were sent off to Lucas Meyer informing him of the turn 
events had taken, and, in response thereto, he brought the men who 
had been so thrashed on Friday back to Dundee to reinforce the 
commands under Erasmus. 

The Boers, on the Tuesday afternoon, again came into the town 
in large numbers. They secured more liquor, and, under its influence, 
became excited and quarrelsome. They started parading the streets 
in batches, singing, derisively, "Soldiers of the Queen." 



CHAPTER XXXM 



The Battle of Elandslaagte— Elandslaagte— A Challenge— Shot after 

Shot— An Ingenious Device— The Infantry Charge— Incidents of the 

Charge— " Most Awfully Proud of My Regiment"— " War is a 

Funny Game, Mother "—Explosive Ammunition Effects— A 

Boer Soldier's Story— The British Attack— Gordon's Final 

Rush— Colonel Chisholme. 



THE battle of Glencoe and Dundee was quickly followed by 
one at Elandslaagte. This place, on the railroad between 
Glencoe and Ladysmith, has already been mentioned as the 
scene of a Boer raid and capture of a train. General 
White, at Ladysmith, knew that the British force at Glencoe and 
Dundee would probably have to retreat to Ladysmith. Therefore, 
it was essential to keep the line of communication open. With that 
end in view he sent up a considerable force which met the Boers 
under General Kock at Elandslaagte, and fought a battle with them 
on October 21st, simultaneously with the second day's fight at 
Glencoe and Dundee. 

Elandslaagte. 

In order to give the narrative proper sequence it will be neces- 
sary to begin with the incident that happened on the morning of 
October 19th, when the last passenger train from Ladysmith to 
Dundee was fired upon as it entered the narrow pass between 
Elandslaagte and the broad plain that gives its name to the locality, 
which, being interpreted, means the plain of Elands. After that 
train had got through, the line was broken up by the Boers, who 
apparently knew, from information given them by spies, that another 
train would follow with military stores and commissariat cattle for 
the troops at Dundee. This train, steaming on without warning of 
danger, was derailed near Elandslaagte station and captured by the 
Boers, who took the engine-driver and two correspondents of local 

(394) 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 395 

papers prisoners. The news was Immediately telegraphed irom 
Mudder's Spruit, and early next morning a reconnoitering column 
started from Ladysmith under Major-General French, who had 
arrived just in the nick of time to take this command. He had with 
him the Natal Carabineers, the Fifth Lancers, Twent3^-first Battery 
Royal Field Artillery, and two infantry battalions — the Second 
Gordon Highlanders (Ninety-second foot) and the First Battalion 
Devonshire Regiment, Colonel Ian Hamilton being in command of 
the infantry. This reconnoissance met with slight resistance from 
Boer marksmen posted about the slopes near Barend Brink Farm, 
where rugged spurs of the lesser Draakensberg range jut out to 
undulating veldt. 

As the British cavalry pushed forward the enemy's scouts went 
across a ridge towards Elandslaagte, the Carabineers and Fifth 
Lancers followed nearly to the station, which was found to be occu- 
pied in considerable numbers by Boers. After exchanging a few 
shots, the patrols fell back, having accomplished their object. It 
was then too late to attempt any offensive operations, and Sir 
George White, having reasons for expecting some hostile move- 
ment of Orange Free State Boers, who, coming through Van- 
Reenan's and Tintwa Passes, had been skirmishing for several days 
with the Natal frontier troops, decided to recall General French's 
reconnoitering column. This, however, was only with the object of 
luring the enemy into false security in order that a more effective 
blow might be struck with greater force the next day. The rank- 
and-file did not like it when they were told to get to their trains 
again for a retirement, and their comments on tactics which seemed 
to resemble those of the brave old Duke of York, who marched his 
men up the hill one day to march them down again, were ** frequent 
and free." Tommy, however, in such circumstances is not the best 
judge of military movements, his one anxiety being to get a slap at 
the enemy anywhere, and as soon as possible. As he had been dis- 
appointed twice, one can sympathize with his chagrin in having to 
come back crestfallen, having seen no more of the Boers he went 
out to fight than a few horsemen scampering away before the 



396 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

cavalry patrols. So the work had to be done over again next day 
with more elaborate preparations. 

Again Major-General French was in command, and he started 
with a very small reconnoitering force an hour before daybreak. 
To all appearances there was no expectation of encountering a 
formidable body of Boers, nor any belief that artillery, effec- 
tive at long range, would be used by them, as General French had 
with him only one battery of Natal Field Artillery, arriied with 
7-pounder mountain guns, that do little damage at distances over 
4500 yards, and four squadrons of the Imperial Light Horse. A 
half-battalion Manchester Regiment in the armored train moved 
along the railway slowly, keeping pace with mounted troops and 
batteries to a point just beyond Modder's Spruit Station, at the foot 
of sloping Veldt Kopje — crested where the Light Horse scouts 
first came in contact with the enemy's outposts. Many of the corps, 
formed entirely of Outlanders from the Rand, had never been under 
fire until that moment, but there were many among them who had 
seen fighting in Matabeleland, and all were animated by remem- 
brance of the humiliations they had borne in the Transvaal. Their 
two majors were Sampson and Karri Davis, who had endured im- 
prisonment for a year or more rather than pay the fine to which 
Pretoria judges had sentenced them for their participation as Re- 
form leaders in the Jameson raid. 

A Challenge. 

Every man of the regiment was keen for fighting under a leader 
like Colonel Chisholm, whose personal qualities had endeared him 
to them all in the short time since he assumed command. All this 
would have been enough to make them eager for a chance of prov- 
ing their mettle, but another incentive was given before they left 
camp that morning in the form of a letter addressed to the senior 
major. It came from Johannesburg Hollanders and Boers, with 
the commando at Elandslaagte, expressing an anxious desire to 
meet the Imperial Light Horse in battle, and asking by what 
distinctive badge they might be recognized. Outflanking the few 
Boers, who, from secure cover behind boulders, took deliberate 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 397 

pot-shot and then scuttled for all they were worth, the impetuous 
Light Horse pushed forward at a pace with which the tortoise-like 
armored train could not attempt to keep up. It had to steam with 
caution, even after its front had been cleared, lest some hidden dan- 
ger might lurk beneath the culverts or in rails that might have been 
loosened by the wily foe. The ridge that stretches from the black 
peaks of the lesser Drakensberg, above Barenk Brink Farm, east- 
ward to a range of brown kopje, having been seized, French ordered 
the Natal battery forward to that position, while Chisholm's Light 
Horse in open order were continuing their advance more cautiously 
than at first towards Elandslaagte, from where, on the lower slopes 
of the conical mountain, white tents could be seen. By that time it 
was eight o'clock, and the morning light, though somewhat dimmed 
by heavy clouds, showed up every distinct object clearly. Men 
were moving hurriedly about the station, mounting horses and mak- 
ing off towards the hills behind, as if surprised by the sudden appear- 
ance of foes. With a celerity that won commendation from profes- 
sional gunners, the Natal battery came into action, laying its seven- 
pounders on that point at a range of something over 4000 yards. 
As ill-luck would have it, the shell, aimed with excellent judgment 
of distance, fell near some buildings, behind which the Boer ambu- 
lance was placed, but their wagon with the Red Cross flag could 
not be seen from the battery, and never should have been where it 
was, as the Boer surgeon afterward admitted. The Natal gunners 
had fired no more than three rounds when they, in turn, were aston- 
ished by having a shell in their very midst from a gun that was 
apparently posted a thousand yards behind Elandslaagte Station. 
In vain they tried to get the exact range of that gun by elevating 
their seven-pounders to the highest possible point, and yet their 
shells fell short, while 

Shot After Shot. 

from the Boer battery ploughed the ground between the British 
guns, fortunately without meeting or hitting anything more import- 
ant than an ammunition-wagon, which had to be left behind as the 
mountain battery limbered up and retired from under a heavy fire 



398 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

to which no effective reply could be given. Light Horse scouts 
and armored train fell back, also, to a good position, in front of 
which there was comparatively unbroken ground for three miles 
or more. 

An Ingenious Device. 

All this while General French had been in telephonic communi- 
cation with headquarters by means of a cunningly contrived appa- 
ratus worked by telegraphers of the Natal Government Post Office, 
all arrangements for that purpose having been made by Mr. Weight- 
man, assistant engineer of that department. With the armored 
train and the Major-General's staff were operators carrying phono- 
phones and other appliances, which could be attached to the railway 
telegraph wire rapidly at any point, and in a few minutes the officer 
in charge would be talking to the chief of the staff in Ladysmith. 
By this means reinforcements were summoned so quickly that, by 
the time the British had fallen back on their second position, a train 
of trucks laden with the First Devons steamed up and the men 
were ready to take their place in fighting line. Another train, bring- 
ing 400 of the Gordons, arrived a few minutes later, and the 
enemy's sharpshooters, who had been harassing the rear guard of 
the Imperial Light Horse with fire from kopjes on each flank, hesi- 
tated to come nearer. Then two squadrons of the 5th Lancers and 
the 42d Battery Field Artillery came quietly up, their commander 
bringing the welcome news that a third squadron of the Lancers, and 
one of the 5th Dragoon Guards, with yet another battery of fifteen- 
pounders, were on their way. Thus, confident in renewed strength, 
General French resolved to assume the offensive, and immediately 
advanced towards his former position, the enemy's riflemen being 
steadily driven back by the cavalry and Light Horsemen ; while the 
Infantry, under Brigadier-General Hamilton, began its deployment 
across the open veldt on the right flank, moving nearly north-east. 
In a short time the British had reached another position near Mod- 
der's Spruit Station, where the 42d Battery unlimbered and threw 
their shells into the Drakensburg spurs on the left flank, where 
some Boers, retiring hastily from the deadly fire of a Maxim, 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 399 

handled by the 5th Dragoon Guards, had taken shelter. Mean- 
while, the Light Horse were having a little skirmish among some 
kopjes away on the right, driving Boer sharpshooters from point to 
point, and beating them easily at their own game. The enemy's 
guns posted behind a grassy ridge, towards which the infantry were 
advancing, fired a few blind shells among the Gordons, fortunately 
doing no harm, quickly as the batteries were wheeled round to meet 
them. Hamilton's brigade had then only to face an infantry 
fire which became wilder and wilder as Light Horsemen and 5th 
Lancers gained a rugged hill, turning the enemy's fiank, and with- 
out any serious losses they had gained a footing on that grassy 
ridge. The first man to fall on the British side was one of the 5th 
Lancers, whose head was taken off by a shell as his squadron 
formed on the crest. Opposite that point the Boers attempted to 
make a stand, dismounting behind a small kopje, but the British 
guns by that time were on the ridge, and taking ground for action 
first. At them several shells were aimed from the enemy's main 
position, but these either fell wide of the mark, or over it — though 
some fell perilously near ammunition wagons. Few, however, 
exploded and none had a time fuse properly set for scattering its 
shower of shrapnel bullets overhead. They were, therefore, ignored 
by the batteries, one of which turned its attention first of all to the 
little kopje, throwing a few well-directed shells there with such 
demoralizing effect that the Boers were quickly in flight towards 
their main position on Elandslaagte Hill, pursued for some distance 
by cavalry and Light Horsemen. Then the two field batteries 
turned to their proper work of silencing the enemy's big guns, 
while the Natal artillerymen joined in chorus from the former posi- 
tion away on the left, near Baren Brink Farm. Heavy thunder- 
clouds were gathering ominously about the hills, making a dark 
background for the thin wreaths of white vapor that followed the 
explosion of time shrapnels, and for the livid green tongues of 
flame that darted in rapid succession from the muzzles of the guns. 
In a quarter of an hour the enemy's artillery was silenced or 
deserted by the gunners, and the British went on shelling the 



400 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

heights for our infantry attack which General Hamilton was begin- 
ning to develop. Sir George White had been on the ground for 
some time with his staff, but he did not interfere with General 
French's command. 

The Infantry Charg-e. 

Heavy rain began to fall, drenching the khaki-clad infantry as 
they crossed the ridge with a broad front, and moved steadily for- 
ward for their assault on the hill that rose with forbidding steepness 
from a deep hollow in the green veldt, its precipitous sides and 
crest roughened by boulders behind which the Boer marksmen 
could lie well under cover while they took deliberate aim. But their 
steadiness must have been considerably shaken when one of the 
British batteries, taking fresh ground where it could better cover 
the Devons, who were marching down that hollow straight for the 
steepest escarpments, began to rake the long hill with shrapnel, 
every one of which burst in the air, scattering its deadly shower 
among the rocks. From the western bluff that rises steeply out of 
Elandslaagte Pass, the enemy's battery opened again suddenly, its 
gunners having either repaired the havoc wrought by the opening 
fire or gained fresh courage. They planted one shell near the left 
of the British battery over a low spur, where, unseen by them, an 
ammunition wagon was accidently passing the spot. It was a ring 
or segment shell, and exploded on impact with a force sufficient to 
upset the wagon, killing one of the team and injuring several of 
the drivers, but wounding none severely. Then British batteries 
began a cannonade that sounded terrific, as shells in rapid succes- 
sion screeched and gurgled through the air. In the gathering gloom 
one could see the flash of smokeless powder from Boer guns, which 
were then firing shrapnel over the advancing Devons. One shell, 
that by good luck did not explode properly, fell among the mounted 
rifle escort, where they rode close behind Sir George White and his 
staff, who were moving alongside the Devon men, and killed two 
horses, but did no greater harm. The position of their guns being 
clearly shown, the British left battery brought all its fire to bear upon 
them until they were silenced one by one, and from that time forward 









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THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 4OI 

there was nothing but infantry fire to face. What a fire that was, 
though ! It rained a hail of nickel and lead. The Boers, driven to 
their last stand, and dreading to be cut down by cavalry if they 
retired across open ground, fought with splendid determination in 
spite of the terrible shrapnels. The Devons by this time had 
reached cover at the foot of the hill they were bent on storming. 
The Gordons and Manchesters, with Imperial Light Horsemen, dis- 
mounted, going ahead of them, made a flank movement across 
boulder-strewn slopes towards the long, flattened top of Elands- 
laagte Hill, at its eastern end, where it merges into high veldt. 
This infantry attack had to be hurried before the shrapnels had suffi- 
ciently beaten down the enemy's rifle fire, for darkness was closing 
and time pressed. 

Incidents of the Chargre. 

The Gordons and Manchesters at one point were checked for 
several minutes by a barbed-wire fence, and then they fell thickly. 
Light Horsemen on their right suffered, too, but there was no sign 
of wavering, and in a swarm the mingled regiments pressed eagerly 
forward up the steeper slope, some dropping down now and then 
to take deliberate aim from behind cover, but others disdaining 
such precautions. It was there that Colonel Chisholm, of the 
Light Horse, fell with one bullet through his head and another 
through his heart, as he was waving a scarf with the colors — his 
colors of his old regiment, the 5th Lancers— on it as a signal for 
his men to follow him. Close by one of the Gordons was hit, 
and saying to a comrade, who caught him in his arms, "And me, 
a time-expired man ! " died. Some of the Imperial Light Horse 
came across a group of Boers, among whom was Colonel Schiel, 
badly wounded. When he learned that they were Sampson's men, 
he said, " Ah, we had him in our prison. Now, I expect, he will 
have me in his ! " He did not know that Major Sampson was lying 
a few yards off, badly hit, too. The Devons had gained the crest on 
its steepest side, and the Gordons, with Manchesters and Light 
Horse, were sweeping over its nearer ridge, when, to their astonish- 
ment, they heard the "Cease fire" and "Retire" sounded by 

26 



402 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

buglers. It was difficult to account for them, but not so, later, when 
they knew that the Boers had learned their bugle calls. In obedi- 
ence to that sound the Gordons were beginning to fall back, when 
their boy-bugler, saying *' Retire be damned ! " rushed forward, and 
blew a hearty charge. Whereupon ranks closed up, and the victory 
of Elandslaagte was won. Darkness closed suddenly on the scene 
of carnage, but not before the Lancers, sweeping round the hill, had 
fallen upon a body of the retreating enemy, and charged through 
and through it. The Boers left at least a hundred dead at Elands- 
laagte Hill, and half as many more must have fallen from the terri- 
ble lance thrusts. In driving rain and darkness it was impossible 
to find all the wounded that night, and many of them were left lying 
on the storm-swept hill. Captain Paton, of the Manchesters, a son 
of Sir Noel, had to lie there until dawn next morning, but Private 
Rogers, of the same regiment, sat beside his stricken officer through 
the night with arms about him to give some warmth. Numberless 
incidents might be told of the British soldiers' kindness to wounded 
Boers, who found that they had fallen into the hands of enemies 
whose fierce courage turned to merciful tenderness in the moment 
of victory. 

A graphic account of the battle was given in a letter written by 
one of the British soldiers, who was wounded, to his mother. This 
is his story of the crisis of the fight : 

"Most Awfully Proud of My Regiment." 

" To sum up the infantry assault, which was the all-important part 
of the fight, we see the following facts, which speak for themselves : 
800 British Infantry (ourselves and the Gordons) carried by a direct 
frontal attack an entrenched position of tremendous natural strength, 
which was held in a most plucky and determined manner by about 
double the number of Boers, and which had been in no way shaken 
by artillery fire ! It was a splendid feat of arms, and I am most 
awfully proud of my regiment, for we bore the brunt of the day. 
We had a tremendous hard time of it, and were under fire for 2j^ 
hours (considerably longer than any other corps). But the cost was 
awful ! We had only ten officers in action, and five of them were 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 403 

wounded ; and of 329 men we had 1 1 killed and ^^ wounded ; two 
have since died of their wounds. The Gordons lost even more 
severely. The reasons for this were, in my opinion, as follows : 
First, their dark kilts were much more visible than our khakis, and 
consequently formed a better target; second, there were more of 
them. The Gordons all say that Dargai was the merest child's play 
compared to this. 

"War is a Funny Game, Mother." 

"To return to my own doings. I lay where I fell for about 
three-quarters of an hour, when a doctor came and put a field dress- 
ing on my wound, gave me some brandy, put my helmet under my 
head as a pillow, covered me with a Boer blanket which he had 
taken from a dead man, and then went to look after some other 
poor sufferer. I shall never forget the horrors of that night as long 
as I live. In addition to the agony which my wound gave me, I had 
two sharp stones running into my back, I was soaked to the skin 
and bitterly cold, but had an awful thirst ; the torrents of rain never 
stopped. On one side of me was a Gordon Highlander in raving 
delirium, and on the other a Boer who had had his leg shattered by 
a shell, and who gave vent to the most heart-rending cries and 
groans. War is a funny game, mother, and no one can realize what 
its grim horrors are like till they see it in all its barbarous reality. 
I lay out in the rain the whole of the night, and at daybreak was put 
on a cot by a doctor, and some natives carried me down to the 
station. The ground was awfully rough, and they dropped me 
twice ; I fainted both times. I was sent down to Ladysmith in the 
hospital train ; from the station I was conveyed to the chapel (offi- 
cers' hospital) in a bullock cart, the jolting of which made me faint 
again. I was the last officer taken in. I was then put to bed, and 
my wound was dressed just 17 hours after I was hit. They then 
gave me some beef tea, which was the first food I had had for 27 
hours. 

Explosive Ammunition Effects. 

** The doctors all said at first that I had been hit by a shell, but 
that is impossible, for the enemy only had two guns, and we had 



404 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

taken them both when I was hit. So the doctors now say that it 
must have been a very heavy explosive bullet, and as an elephant 
gun was tound close to where I was hit, I expect they are right. It 
has made a very big jagged hole in my shoulder, which you could 
put your hand into. It has blown some of the muscle away, so I am 
afraid I shall always be a bit stiff. But I am very lucky, really, for 
they say if It had hit me a couple of inches further to the right or 
left it would have killed me. Extracting the fragments of bullets 
caused me a good deal of pain, and the daily dressing of the wound 
is very far from pleasant, but the medical people are already begin- 
ning to say that I must be a wonderfully healthy subject, as it is heal- 
ing so well." 

A Boer Soldier's Story. 

Equally interesting is the story of the fight related by a Boer 
soldier in a private letter. 

''Since this letter," begins the writer, "will be read by the 
British authorities, I will confine myself to relating what has hap- 
pened to me since October 20. On that day six hundred of us 
arrived at Elandslaagte, two hours' journey from Ladysmith. The 
previous evening we had captured a provision train with a military 
escort. I was ordered with nine men, among whom was the bar- 
rister Coster, to destroy the railway line in three places. One of 
these was quite close to Modder's Spruit Station, the first stopping- 
place after Ladysmith, where the enemy had an outpost. Neverthe- 
less, this dangerous task was performed without incident. 

''Next day, Saturday, the 21st, we had received no reinforce- 
ments (we were nine), but that did not prevent us from cutting the 
communications between two considerable forces, those of Dundee 
and Ladysmith. 

"At seven o'clock in the morning the order was given to mount, 
the enemy being on the march. We had hardly reached the works 
when shells began to fall among us. Our two cannons replied. 
When we began to march the enemy disappeared. On our return 
to the camp we changed its position — wagons with our baggage and 
tents having just arrived. Then we had to saddle the horses imme- 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 4O5 

diately as the enemy advanced in great numbers. We rushed to a 
hill, descended on the other side to put the horses in shelter, and 
then returned to the ridge. There, with our two cannons, we 
awaited the attack of over 4000 enemies. We were 60 Germans, 
98 Dutch, and 200 Afrikanders from Fordsburg and Johannesburg. 

The British Attack. 

"The enemy had two batteries of artillery with twelve guns, 
three regiments of infantry, a regiment of lancers, a regiment of 
light and a regiment of heavy cavalry, I do not know the number 
of the cavalry, but the infantry was 3000 strong. 

''The enemy's artillery opened a violent fire on our two poor 
guns, and shells fell among us. At the end of twenty minutes one 
of our guns was dismounted. Meantime we had opened fire on 
the advancing infantry, who replied with a hail of bullets. At this 
moment the majority of the Fordsburgers and Johannesburgers gave 
way in spite of the encouragements of our commander, who cried: 
' Stand firm ! All my Dutchmen are here yet.' The advancing infan- 
try kept up a terrible fusillade on our 300 men. I was firing lying 
down on my stomach and, having lost sight of the troops coming 
from the plain, I resolved to wait until they showed themselves anew. 

" Except the dead I saw nothing. The others had gone without 

my perceiving the movement on account of the infernal noise of the 

shells. A few, however, still remained a little behind me. I waited, 

still lying down, a couple of shells covering me with dirt, while the 

little leaden bullets fell, without exaggeration, on my back and 

beside me. 

Gordon's Final Rush. 

"Finally, their artillery fire began to decrease, and as the balls 
began to whistle I concluded that the infantry had arrived on the 
hill. Then I saw it a couple hundred yards off and began to fire 
my last cartridges. It was the Gordon Highlanders, and at every 
shot two or three fell at once. Then our men began to fire again. 
I was very glad because I had thought at first that I was alone. 

" My cartridges being exhausted I retired. The bullets whistled 
right and left, and I heard nothing but the noise of the projectiles 



4o6 THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 

Striking the rocks. In about two minutes I reached the slope of the 
hill, my escape from being hit in that time being incredible and 
miraculous, even in my own eyes. 

''At this point I met another regiment of British infantry. All 
our people were gone and, surrounded by cavalry, were proceeding 
over the plain. In an instant the British came up to me and took 
away my rifle and empty cartridge bag. Nine others who had 
resisted to the last were taken prisoners at the same time." 

Colonel Chisholm. 

The British exultation at this victory was marred by the death 
of Colonel Chisholm. He had left a coveted command in the 
Lancers to organize and lead the Imperial Light Horse. He had 
chosen his men, taking not all who offered themselves, but those 
only whom he selected as comrades likely to follow his leading. 
There are stories told of his reckless bravery on this fatal field. 
The bullets, which came so near him in such numbers, and which 
actually struck his horse, seemed to have no powder over him, and 
perhaps he had become almost callous to their threats when the fatal 
bullet struck him. The fight was already over, and the victory won, 
and won by such bravery as his, when Colonel Chisholm fell. 

So ended prematurely the career of a soldier of whom, had he 
lived, great things were yet to be heard, or the predictions of all 
who knew him were to go unfulfilled. He w^as not yet fifty, and his 
twenty-seven years of service in the army included some particularly 
good work in the Afghan War of 1879. The three years in which 
he served as military secretary to Lord Connemara, when Governor 
of Madras, gave Colonel Chisholm valuable opportunities of study 
and observation, of which he eagerly availed himself, and which 
some day he hoped to turn to good purpose. With the Lancers — 
the 9th and the 5th — his name will always be associated to their 
glory as well as to his own. The Imperial Light Horse is a regi- 
ment that ought to be, and at Elandslaagte proved itself to be, par- 
ticularly well qualified to meet and outmatch the Boers. 

The difference between the opposing armies is, in the main, 
remarkable. On the Boer side are ranged men who fight for their 



THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE. 407 

homes ; they decide in their ParHament to fight, and they go forth 
to give effect to their own decision. The English ParHament votes 
for war, but does not— except in the case of Lord Edmund Talbot, 
and one or two others — go forth personally to conduct it. The 
nation has to rely on that valor which Mr. Bright once affronted by 
saying that it could be bought for a shilling at the corner of any 
street. Perhaps it can ; and happy is the nation with whom valor 
is a ready-to-hand commodity. All the same, the man fighting in 
his own cause and not by hired proxy has his own strength and 
intensity. Agency is very well, but there are few departments of 
life in which the saying does not hold good among competent men, 
that if you want a thing to be properly done you must do it your- 
self. The English inhabitants of Johannesburg were of that mind ; 
and the Imperial Light Horse was almost entirely composed of men 
who had lived and labored in the Transvaal, and whose attitude 
towards the war was a personal, as well as a political, one. That is 
why they were found at the front of the battle line at Elandslaagte, 
and why they did not hesitate to follow where Colonel Scott Chis- 
holm led. 

A newspaper correspondent who was sitting with the well- 
known artist, Mr. Melton Prior, sent home some profoundly inter- 
esting details of the fatal fight. Colonel Scott Chisholm came to 
where the two non-combatants sat, and told them that, in his first 
fight, a shell had fallen between his horse's legs and had not burst; 
and that on that very morning, in a skirmish, the last shot of the 
Boers at the Imperial Light Horse had come equally close to 
him. 'Tt was, indeed," the correspondent continued, ''a strange 
coincidence that such a thing should happen in the popular officer's 
first and last fight, for the battle of Elandslaagte was his last fight, 
and at nightfall he was numbered with the slain. I found it hard to 
believe the truth." " Mind you, stick in my whistle," he said laugh- 
ingly to Mr. Melton Prior, who was rapidly sketching him ; and then 
bade him good-bye, saying: 'T must get the boys together for 
more work." The next news heard of him by the artist was that 
he was among the fallen. 



CHAPTER XXXm 



The Battle of Rietfontein,or Tinta Inyoni— Rietfontein— The Fiercest 
of the Fight— Valor of the Boers— A Victory of Strategy— The Re- 
treat from Dundee— Moving in the Rain— Shell Took Effect- 
Party of Boers — A Narrow Escape — A Night March — An 
Anxious Time— Tired Out and Sleepy— The Impertur- 
bable British Soldier — A Trying Experience— More 
Misadventures. 



THE way thus being cleared by the battle of Elandslaagte, the 
British force at Glencoe and Dundee, under General Yule, on 
October 23d, set out upon the march to Ladysmith. That the 
occupation of Dundee was a tactical mistake is acknowledged. 
Sir George White is said to have been opposed to this division of the 
Natal force, but had to accept the situation as he found it. This 
policy was dictated by political rather than military considerations. 
The natural line of defense was the Tugela River, with Estcourt for 
the base. To have fallen back on the Tugela would have involved 
the abandonment of a large part of the colony. The moral and 
political effect of such a sacrifice would, it was held, have out- 
weighed any risk that might arise from the retention of Dundee 
and the difficult mountainous country south as far as Ladysmith. 

On the day after General Yule's departure from Dundee, how- 
ever, some further clearing of the way was necessary. The Trans- 
vaal army, under General Kock, had been disposed of at Elands- 
laagte. But now a larger army from the Orange State menaced 
the road. Accordingly, on October 24th, General White fought 
the battle of Rietfontein, or Tinta Inyoni, only seven miles from 
Ladysmith. 

Rietfontein, 

"At daybreak," writes a correspondent with the British forces, 
" four regiments — Gloucesters, Devons, Liverpools, and King's 

(408) 



THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONl. 4O9 

Royal Rifles — with two field batteries, one mountain battery, and a 
large body of cavalry, moved out of camp. Following the road 
towards Elandslaagte, the mounted men, who were well in advance, 
took up positions under the spurs of the hills, within two or three 
thousands yards of the enemy. A squadron of Lancers was pushed 
forward to Modder Spruit. As we passed a kopje three miles from 
the spruit, the Boer scouts opened fire, and two troopers dropped 
from their saddles. Arriving within sight of the railway station, 
and finding that the infantry and artillery were still far in the rear, I 
returned in the direction of Ladysmith. The ground over which I 
rode was open veldt, covered with stones and ant hills, among 
which the grass was beginning to appear in tender green. To the 
east was the railway — useless a mile or two south, where the 
invaders had torn up the rails — bounded in the distance by a 
range of low hills. 

"The physical features on the west offered as many obstacles 
to an attacking force as the weakest enemy could desire or the most 
ingenious sapper could devise. Along the edge of the plain, at 
intervals of three or four hundred yards, rose a series of kopjes 
connected by neks. Beyond these hills — most tedious to traverse, 
because of the round stones sticking out like almonds in a cake- — 
the ground sloped gently to a height of four or five hundred feet. 
To reach the summit one had to pass over an exposed plateau com- 
manded by two mountains divided by a broad ravine. Here on 
these buttress ranges, the tops of which were wreathed in soft mist, 
lay the enemy. As usual, he was not in sight. Hidden among the 
rocks and boulders on the dark and precipitous mountain side, he 
awaited our advance. 

" General French had made his dispositions with extreme 
caution. A screen of cavalry was drawn along the western boun- 
dary, the flanks thrown forward, so as to guard against any attempt 
to turn our position. Lancers, Hussars, Mounted Infantry, Light 
Horse, Carabineers, and Natal Mounted Rifles were collected under 
cover of the kopjes. The infantry, at a safe distance, stood ready 
for the order to advance as soon as our guns had disclosed the 



4IO THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONl. 

enemy and silenced their artillery. After a little skirmishing with 
the scouts, who fell back on Tinta Inyoni and Maatowans Hoek — 
two precipitous hills occupied by nearly 2000 Boers — our guns got 
into action. The enemy's gunners again showed the accuracy of 
their aim. The first shell dropped right in the midst of the 42 d Bat- 
tery, but did no damage .beyond killing a horse. In a few minutes 
our guns had the range, and the artillery on Maatowans Hoek was 
silenced under a hail of shrapnel. 

The Fiercest of the Fight. 

" Covered by this searching fire our infantry pressed forward in 
extended order up the slope in the direction of the ravine that divi- 
ded the two mountains. Before they could reach the crest the air 
began to hiss with the sharp ring of Mauser bullets. Protected by 
stones and boulders, our men were able to creep steadily up the 
slope as our shells drove in the enemy. Their centre was slowly 
forced back upon the mountain, whose summit and slope were raked 
with shrapnel. As the engagement became general our infantry 
were moved to the left, where the Boers had again concentrated. 
Here, within sight of Pepworth Farm, the fight was fiercest. 

'* In order to watch the progress of the battle I had crept up the 
slope in the rear of the Devons, but the ground became so hot that 
I was compelled to beat a hasty retreat. On my way down the hill 
I passed three of our slain, and was overtaken by tw^o wounded 
Gloucesters, whom I assisted to the field ambulance. The losses of 
this unfortunate battalion — destined to fall into the hands of the 
enemy a few days later — must have been great. They had pressed 
on over the exposed plateau in advance of the other battalions, 
and had been met with heavy musketry fire. ' We could not see 
the enemy,' said the wounded soldiers. A barbed wire fence which 
they encountered was responsible for some of the severest casual- 
ties. The bullets striking this obstacle glanced upwards, and in- 
flicted several serious wounds in the head. I saw more than one 
helmet pierced. It may also be that the black powder burned by 
the Mountain Battery, which shared the fate of the Gloucesters, 
drew upon them the attention of the Boer marksmen. 



THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONl. 4 1 I 

Valor of the Boers. 

''The action developed rapidly, Maxims, musketry, and artil- 
lery playing with increasing energy. As the fight moved away 
to our left, I rode along the ridge towards the farm at Rietfon- 
tein, from which the Boers were plainly visible. It was impossi- 
ble to withhold admiration for the skill and courage with which 
they defended their position. During the last week or two many 
delusions with regard to the enemy have been destroyed. Those 
who profess to have the most intimate acquaintance with the Boer 
character were wont to declare that the first British success would 
send him scampering home, that he would never attack, that he 
would never face our soldiers, and that our artillery would frighten 
him out of his wits. In short, they persuaded themselves that the 
Boer was an arrant coward. Events have modified these opinions. 

"Though our shells swept the hills with flame and steel the 
Boers maintained their position, and their dark figures were often 
silhouetted on the gray sky-line. These peasants have one de- 
cided advantage. They have initiative and capacity to act inde- 
pendently, while their extreme mobility and their knowledge of the 
country gives them the confidence that comes of a sense of secu- 
rity. There was nothing unusual in the spectacle of two or three 
men conducting a fight of their own under conditions that seemed 
more than hazardous. Three of these small groups of brave men 
kept up a regular fusillade on the face of the mountain long after 
the main body had been driven back. They remained to the end 
and added a few Mauser bullets to the shells that hastened our de- 
parture when the signal was given to retire. 

"Among the gallant deeds of the action, one by Lieutenant 
Compton deserves to be recorded. A carabineer, named Cleaver, 
fell while the men were clearing from an exposed position. He was 
shot through the body. Lieutenant Compton ran back to him, de- 
spite the galling fire, and said, T will carry you under cover.' 
Cleaver replied, ' No, let me rest,' as he was in great pain. Comp- 
ton, after another appeal to be allowed to take him to an ambulance, 
left him. He was taken up shortly after by an ambulance. 



412 THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 

A Victory of Strategy. 

" The firing ceased about three. There was no apparent reason 
why it should. The Boers had killed a few of us. Probably we had 
killed more of them. But mere loss of life does not make victory 
or defeat, and to all appearance we were both on much the same 
ground as at first, except that the Boers had lost a gun and were 
not at all comfortable on the positions they had held. Our with- 
drawal, however, was due to deeper reasons. A messenger had 
brought news of the column which had unhappily been driven from 
Dundee. The messenger brought the news that the column was 
safe and returning unmolested on Ladysmith by the roundabout 
road eastward, near Helpmakaar. We had held back the enemy 
from intercepting them on their march. Our long and harassing 
fight, then, had been worth the sacrifice. It was a victory in strat- 
egy. Sir George White gave the order for the infantry to with- 
draw from the ridge by battalions and return to Ladysmith. By 
evening we were all in the town again. 

"General White had accomplished the task he had set him- 
self. He had removed the danger of attack by the Free State 
commando on the Dundee garrison. But that was not the only 
peril. There was always the risk of pursuit by the force under 
General Joubert, who arrived at Dundee on the day after Meyer 
was defeated on Talana Hill. Our scouts reported that no Boers 
were to be seen on the Helpmakaar road, along which Colonel 
Yule's column was making forced marches. It was known that they 
had abandoned their stores, ammunition and kit, and were suffering 
privations, as well as hardships. General White accordingly sent 
out a large stock of provisions and several teams of mules, accom- 
panied by a small body of infantry and cavalry, who came up with 
the garrison at Waschbank." 

The Retreat from Dundee. 

We have already spoken of the flight of the people from Dun- 
dee. The army, under General Yule, evacuated that place on Octo- 
ber 23. Despite the brilliant victory over the Boers at the battle of 
Dundee on Friday, it was found advisable on Sunday night to evacu- 



THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 413 

ate the town to avoid the possibility of being cut off from the main 
body at Ladysmith. That General Joubert was close at hand with 
no less than 17,000 men and three forty-pounders was known on 
Friday evening after the battle, and the distant firing plainly heard 
in the Dundee camp that evening seemed to indicate that he was at 
that time engaged with a body of reinforcements expected from 
Ladysmith, and as the firing grew less distant it was presumed the 
Boers had been successful in preventing a junction. 

No definite news was brought in by the scouts that night, and 
on Saturday morning everything seemed peaceful and quiet. About 
noon the cheering news was brought in that reinforcements had 
arrived at Glencoe, had halted there and gone out to meet the 
enemy. Soon afterwards the distant boom of big guns was heard, 
but the sounds of conflict did not last long, and as the reinforce- 
ments did not return, the whole affair was shrouded in mystery. It 
was not apparently known whether they were cavalry or infantry. 

Moving in the Rain. 

That afternoon there was a heavy downpour of rain. The tents 
had all been struck preparatory to shifting camp, and the men who 
had been fighting all the previous day were drenched to the skin, 
and just about making an effort to get settled in their new quarters 
when the startling boom of a big gun was heard from close by, and 
a shell fell right in the middle of the camp, followed by others at 
rapid intervals. It was found that the Boers had taken up a position 
at two points on the Impata Mountain on the north of the camp. 
No damage was done by the shells, and one or two shots were fired 
by way of return. The Boers made admirable shooting with their 
heavy guns, and it was apparent that the camp must be evacuated. 

This was done, and wet and weary they were marched out of 
range of the Boer artillery, but not before one 

Shell Took Effect. 

killing Lieutenant Hannah and a private of the Leicester Regiment, 
as well as a couple of horses. One of the enemy's shells fell so 
close to the field telegraph that the operator very properly cleared 



414 THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 

out. Again the Boers fired on the field hospital, and many of the 
poor fellows wounded in Friday's battle left their tents and made for 
the town. 

Amid consternation the townspeople, including the Town 
Guard, were leaving the hotels and houses and making for the open 
field, the majority wending their way to the baggage-wagons of the 
Imperial forces, which had been conveyed out of range near the 
Indumeni Mountain. Here they camped under the wagons all the 
wet, chilly night, most of them in damp clothes to start with. It was 
bitterly cold — too cold for sleep — and most of us w^ere glad enough 
when morning dawned, though it brought with it the sound of the 
Boer guns once again shelling the camp. 

Early on Sunday morning the welcome news was brought in 
that the Boers had been routed by the Imperial forces at Elands- 
laagte, and a squad of Hussars, under Colonel Knox, was dispatched 
in the direction of Glencoe to the mouth of the Biggarsberg, with a 
view of cutting off the retreat of the Boers. A battery of artillery 
accompanied the squadron. At the mouth of the Berg, a Dutch- 
man was caught pushing a wounded comrade along the railway on 
one of the trolleys. He said he had been in the fiorht at Elands- 
laagte, where the Lancers had done terrible execution amongst the 
Boers. He was sent into camp. There being no more signs of the 
retreating enemy, the squadron was on its way back, when 

A Party of Boers. 

were seen crossing over from the Umpati Mountain towards the 
north side of the Berg, which commands the railway. A battery of 
artillery was speedily got into position, and a couple of shells were 
fired right into the midst of them, killing and wounding a large 
number. This drew the fire of the Boers from the mountain, and 
once again the British artillery had to get out of range, which was 
done without losing a man. 

A Narrow Escape 

A squadron of Hussars and Mounted Infantry had a very 
narrow escape from being blotted out, shells bursting quite close to 



THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 415 

them without injury to a single man. It was pretty to watch the 
artillery fire of the enemy. Their marksmanship was admirable, 
but they had no shrapnel, and only the common shell was used, 
which sometimes buried itself in the earth without exploding. 

All day on Sunday the British cavalry and infantry were kept 
busy skirmishing, scouting and keeping their transport out of range 
of the Boer big guns. For four days saddles had scarcely been off 
the horses' backs, and the majority of the men were absolutely 
suffering for want of rest and sleep. 

A Nigrht March. 

Late on Sunday the order was given for another move in the 
night. The transport wagons were again formed up, and in the 
darkness of the night the whole column trekked right past the Boer 
encampment, through the town of Dundee, and along the Helpma- 
kaar road. It realized that the British column was retiring from 
Dundee, though when the column formed up, the majority of the 
men believed it was for a night attack, and seemed quite ready for 
it. The march was accompanied without incident, the cavalry and 
mounted infantry leading the column as soon as it was daylight. 
Everything was done quietly, and the utmost order prevailed, the 
retreat being accomplished in a masterly fashion, and the column 
being prepared to resist attack from any quarter at a moment's 
notice. 

Arriving at the junction of Helpmakaar and Waschbank roads, 
the column rested until 1 1 P. M. on Monday, when a fresh start was 
made, and the column proceeded to Waschbank, via Van Tondeer's 
Biggarsberg Pass. Going through this pass was 

An Anxious Time. 

for every one. It extends about six miles, and had the Boers been 
in waiting there, it is not too much to say that the column would 
have had a bad time. It was here the guides rendered excellent 
service, first going ahead of the column thoroughly to inspect the 
pass, and afterwards taking the column down through without mis- 
hap or accident. The British got out of the pass about three o'clock 



41 6 THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 

in the morning — a pass which could have been effectively held by 
fifty men against an army — and trekked on to Waschbank River, 
where the column again halted for the night. 

On arrival at Waschbank, they heard heavy firing in the direc- 
tion of Elandslaagte. A battery of artillery, a squadron of Hussars, 
mounted infantry and carabineers were dispatched towards Elands- 
laagte for the Newcastle-Ladysmith road, with a view of cutting the 
enemy, but unfortunately the latter were driven off the other way, 
in the direction of Candyi Kloof. 

Towards evening a heavy downpour of rain fell, which again 
prevented the men from obtaining much rest. About 4 o'clock next 
morning the column was again on the march, a halt for breakfast 
being made at Sunday's River. The weather having cleared up and 
there being no signs of the enemy, the men were able to enjoy a 
good rest and have their biscuits and beef in comparative comfort. 

They were in hopes of going forward to Ladysmith, but this 
hope was soon dispelled by the report that a covering column 
was coming out to meet them from Ladysmith, and they were con- 
sequently to have a much-needed rest before continuing the march. 

Tired Out and Sleepy. 

as they were, the majority of the men would have preferred con- 
tinuing the march, but they off-saddled uncomplainingly and partook 
of what breakfast the commissariat could supply. Patrols were as 
usual sent out, and returned reporting no enemy in sight, and then 
the column settled down for a good rest. 

It was here that a correspondent, accompanying a small party 
of British troops from Ladysmith, came upon them. ''The track," 
he says, ''went steep down hill to a spruit where the water lay in 
pools. And there on the opposite hill was that gallant little British 
army, halted in a position of extreme danger, absolutely com- 
manded on all sides but one, and preparing for tea as unconcernedly 
as if they were in their own rooms at home. Almost as uncon- 
cernedly : for, indeed, some of the officers showed signs of their 
long anxiety and sleeplessness. When I came among them, some 
mounted men suddenly showed themselves in the distance. They 



3 
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?! 
ft 

(0 



O 

m 

s 

D. 




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THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 417 

took them for Boers. I could hardly persuade them they were 
only our own carabineers — the outposts through whom I had just 
ridden. Three of our own scouts appeared across a valley, and 
never were Boers in greater peril of being shot. I think I may put 
their lives down to my credit. 

The Imperturbable British Soldier. 

''The British private was even here imperturbable as usual. 
He sat on the rocks singing the latest he knew from the music-halls. 
He lighted his fire and made his tea, and took an intelligent inter- 
est in the slaughter of the oxen, for all the world as if he were at 
manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. He is really a wonderful person. 
Filthy from head to foot, drenched with rain, baked with sun, un- 
shorn and unwashed for five days, his eyes bloodshot for want of 
sleep, hungry and footsore, fresh from terrible fighting, and the loss 
of many friends, he was still the same unmistakable British soldier, 
that queer mixture of humor and blasphemy, cheerfulness and grum- 
bling, never losing that imperturbability which has no mixture of any 
other quality at all. The camping ground was arranged almost as 
though they were going to stay there forever. Here were the guns 
in order, there the relics of the i8th Hussars ; there the Leicesters, 
the 60th, the Dublins, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and the rest. The 
guards were set and sentries posted. But only two hours later the 
whole moved off again for three miles' farther advance to get them 
well out of the mountains. 

*'Itwas the intention to pitch camp for the night at Modder 
Spruit, so as to give both the horses and mules the much-needed 
care and men much-needed rest, and some oxen were shot for fresh 
meat and breakfast. The order was given, however, to inspan at 
once, and go into Ladysmith in one march. 

A Trying- Experience. 

**The news was not received with much satisfaction, as there 
had been practically no rest for anyone since Saturday, and there 
was every prospect of a wet night. The column commenced to 
move to Ladysmith, and just as we started rain commenced to fall, 

27 



41 8 THE BATTLE OF RTETFONTEIN, OR TINTA INYONI. 

and soon settled down to a heavy, soaking rain. The rain made the 
roads exceedingly heavy for our heavy artillery and transport, while, 
with the exception of a fortunate few who got under a tarpaulin on 
a light wagon, the whole of the troops and civilians were soaked to 
the skin ere they got over the hill from the spruit. 

More Misadventures. 

''We had spent some miserable sleepless nights since we were 
shelled out of Dundee, but Wednesday night was worse than all 
the others put into one. The heaviness of the roads made it impera- 
tive that we should walk most of the way instead of riding on one 
of the wagons. In addition to the roads being perfect rivers of 
mud, the night was as dark as pitch. We had barely started when 
the Avord was passed from the rear to halt, as a company had lost 
their way. Then two Avagons in front got stuck, and the order was 
given to send forward cavalry. Then part of the convoy took the 
wrong road, and more time was wasted. It was impossible to see 
the road clearly in the darkness, and one wagon got overturned and 
had to be left. The rain still continued to soak into the bones of 
those without very ample covering. It was dangerous to fall asleep, 
and exceedingly difficult to keep awake. However, men feel asleep 
on their horses ; wagon guards clambered up on the wagons and 
dropped off to sleep, regardless of the jolting of the wagons or rain. 
One man fell off his wagon, and another dropped his carbine into 
the road. Stoppages were frequent ; all through the night we were 
slipping and falling. Old soldiers put it down as one of the most 
fatiguing nights they had ever known. Everyone who had to walk 
for even a short distance was covered with mud up to the knees at 
least. When morning broke we seemed no nearer our destination, 
and it was not until six a. m., or twelve hours after we started, that 
we arrived at camp, six miles outside Ladysmith, very, very weary, 
and very much exhausted. We had been on our feet for thirty-six 
hours, with two wet nights. At the Ladysmith outside camp, tea 
was made for the men, and they moved into the town barracks about 
twelve o'clock. With the arrival of these survivors of the northern 
garrison began the difficulties and dangers of Lad)smith," 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



The Boers Advance to the Siege of Ladysmith— Beginning the Battle 
—Among the Hills— A Desperate Conflict— An Artillery Duel- 
Good Work of the Boer Guns— The Navy to the Rescue— 
A Heavy Loss. 



NO sooner had General Yule and General White joined forces 
at Ladysmith than the Boer armies gathered around and 
laid siege to the place. For some days the British forces 
kept up a running fire of attacks and sorties, but these were 
found of no avail. It did not take the Boers long to encircle the 
town, cut off all communications with Durban, and make the invest- 
ment complete. 

The first serious engagement which occurred at Ladysmith was 
on October 30th, and comprised the battles of Farquhar's Farm 
and Nicholson's Nek, the latter being disastrous to the British. 
'' Late in the evening of October 29th," says a correspondent who 
was with the British army, ''several infantry regiments, including 
the Loyal Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucester, were sent out with the 
loth Mountain Battery to take up position on the road to Nicholson's 
Nek, marked Walker's Hook on the map. Early this morning the 
13th, 2 1 St, 42d, 53d, 67th, and 69th Batteries of Artillery, the 5th 
Lancers, 5th Dragoons, Natal Volunteers, Imperial Light Horse, 
Mounted Infantry, Gloucester Mounted Infantry, Manchester Mounted 
Infantry, Leicestershire, Devons, Gordon, and King's Royal Rifles 
were sent out to make a reconnoissance of part of the Dutch posi- 
tion, which centered on a spur of Signal Hill, about three miles from 
the town, where they had three guns and two 40-pounders securely 
and well mounted. As in all previous instances, their position was 
ably chosen, and one of great natural strength. 

(419) 



420 



THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 



Beginning tiie Battle. 

"The next morning was clear and warm, and sunshine prevailed. 
The theatre of operations may be described as a semi-circle with 
the Red Hill on the Newcastle road, north of Ladysmith, as the 
centre, and Lombard's Kop the eastern limb of the semi-circle, and 
a series of hills on the western, all within a radius of from two to 
three miles in front. In the middle of the circle was a green hill, 
not high, smooth surfaced, and most unlike the hills usually selected 
by the Boers from which to attack. On this hill were placed several 
guns, evidently twelve or fifteen pounders, and "Long Tom," under- 
stood to be a forty pounder — the same as, if not the veritable piece 
of ordnance, that was placed on the Impatyi Mountain, behind Dun- 
dee and Glencoe. After several shots had been fired at the artiller)^ 
the Boers on the hill diversified proceedings by dropping the shells 
into the town of Ladysmith. Viewed from half way between the 
two limits of the semi-circle, with the main Boer position right in 
front, the summit of the hill about 2500 yards off, the battle was 
remarkable for two things, namely, the overwhelming force of the 
British artillery fire, and the frequent retreats of the Boers from 
the hill. 

" There were three columns of British. The right fiank column 
consisted of four batteries of artillery, the ist and 2d King's Royal 
Rifles, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Liverpools, and the Leicesters. 
The central column comprised the Gordon Highlanders, the Man- 
chester, 2d Rifle Brigade, and the Devons. The left flank had for 
its column the Gloucester, the Loyal Irish Fusiliers, one Mounted 
Battery, and Mounted Infantry (which had started overnight). The 
cavalry, early in the morning, were drawn up on the south of the 
Ladysmith side of the Red Hill. The Boers occupied the hills and 
the country in front, with our troops on their left and right. 

Annong the Hills. 

" On the west side are two hills, about 1000 feet above the sur- 
rounding country, the one smooth-surfaced and easy of access ; the 
other steep, rocky, and brush-covered, with one part, on the north- 
east, inaccessible, being apparently a succession of sand-slips. These 



THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 4^1 

were occupied by our left column (subsequently captured). Be- 
tween these hills on the left and the green hill in front were about 
three or four miles of broken hilly country, parts of it thinly covered 
by trees and bushes, and here the Boers were ensconced. Desul- 
tory firing was heard amongst the hills on the west side shortly after 
six o'clock, and at a quarter to seven a furious fusillade suddenly 
broke forth from both rifle and Maxim. Meantime the big guns 
were thundering on the east or right hand. The top of the hill on 
which the Boers had placed their artillery is a mile in length. Very 
soon from end to end it was enveloped in the smoke and fire of 
bursting shells. What execution was done may be surmised. By 
ten minutes to seven the Boer guns were for the time silenced, 
but our guns continued to shell the hill and to drive out the 
Boers, who were lying low on the summit and in dongas (gullies) 
on its side. Between 50 and 100 Boers had taken shelter in a 
donga on the west end of the hill, and at seven o'clock one of 
our shells burst in their vicinity, throwing masses of brown dust 
high into the air. The Boers fled from their hiding-place, and 
rushed in a crowd down the hillside, never stopping until they reached 
a tree-covered road, where they mounted horses and precipitately 
galloped off, behind all possible shelter, towards the west. 

" The Devons, who lined the hills near the Newcastle road, 
gave the flying Dutchmen a few volleys, which considerably accel- 
erated their movements. On the summit of the hill a few figures 
were visible, though an occasional Boer could be seen on the sky- 
line, some of them standing at times behind one of the small trees, 
as if for shelter. By ten minutes past seven o'clock our firing had 
slackened off considerably, and shortly after this what appeared 
to be an additional commando was now streaming down a hill in 
the background. There must have been several thousands. The 
move downwards, viewed from a distance, looked like a colony of 
black ants on the march. Rifle and Maxim fire could be heard on 
the right and left flanks. The fight grew hotter. At 7.30 a. m. the 
Boers' big guns almost ceased. Our infantry were advancing, and 
volley firing and Maxim firing were active on our left flank. 



42 2 THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 

A Desperate Conflict. 

"At 8.15 A. M. a strong body of cavalry came up to Lombard's 
Kop and moved away to the south-east, evidently to the support 
of the infantry engaged in that direction. The Maxim had been 
in use for some time past, and all-round firing of one kind or 
another was persistent, although occasionally there was a distinct 
lull, but only momentary. Following the silence probably half a 
dozen guns would be fired at once, with a deafening noise. The 
fighting spread over the w^hole quadrant of the circle, and very lit- 
tle could be seen of the combatants, although evidence that they 
were engaged in a deadly game of war was but too palpable. The 
Boer guns on the flat kopje from which they first opened fire 
started again ; but one at least was evidently disabled. High above 
Ladysmith a war balloon w^as distinctly visible. Sir George White's 
column w^as still in reserve. We had six batteries of artillery in 
action, and practice was good ; but the Boers had undoubtedly 
good guns, and used them better than hitherto. They appeared 
to have some of their 40-pounder guns with a Hotchkiss, which 
was used very frequently against our infantry. Several of our 
shells burst in among the Boer guns, but with remarkable nerve 
the Boer gunners still stood by their weapons, evidently trying to 
remove one of them. After several determined attempts to re- 
move it, they appeared to have left it, but some of their guns on the 
kopje, as well as their long-range gun on the ridge directly east- 
ward, w^ere still firing. 

An Artillery Duel. 

"At 9.45 A. M. the artillery duel recommenced. We thought 
the enemy's guns had been silenced, but they pluckily remanned 
them, and the shells were dropping amongst our artillery. They 
also renewed the shelling of the town. The shelling continued 
brisk, three of our batteries returning the fire very fast, and 
there was a rapid fire from rifle and Maxim away on our right flank. 
The action grew more furious, and neither side had so far any ad- 
vantage. The fight was most determined about 2000 yards from 



THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 423 

Tinta Inyoni, the scene of last Tuesday's battle, and nearer the 
town. Their position was well and carefully chosen. A strong 
body was sent out to meet and engage our left flank movement. 
At ten o'clock the Gordon Highlanders were marching forward 
under cover of a low hill facing Lombard's Kop. The 5th Lancers, 
who were operating on the extreme northerly point of the Boers' 
position, were taken at a disadvantage, and were met with a with- 
ering fire, but the range was inaccurate, and only one man was 
wounded. The Border Mounted Rifles and the Natal Mounted 
Rifles were In a similar position to the Lancers, but even nearer the 
enemy's guns. Over 2000 Boers were entrenched near our cavalry, 
and delivered a volley into them, but with little effect. 

"At 10.25 A. M. the Boer guns reopened ; a sharp fight was 
going on on our right flank. The enemy's front in this direction 
extended about four miles. The fight in that quarter was extremely 
hot and sharp, the Maxim and Hotchkiss working like fury. The 
artillery duel proceeded with great vigor, and in the moments be- 
tween the reports of the big guns and the explosion of shells, the 
rattle of musketry and the heavy bang of the Boer Maxim, Nord- 
enfeldts and other machine guns kept up a perpetual din. The 
wide area of the battlefield made It impossible to say if one position 
or another had been gained. Our guns literally raked the top of 
the green hill held by the Boers with a tremendous shell fire, but 
there seemed to be no great impression made. The Boer forty- 
pounder guns on the hill appeared to be entrenched In pits, and 
although they seemed to be silenced, they opened fire again with 
redoubled vigor, while another forty-pounder on the top of the 
other hill banged away as rapidly as the gunners could load and 
fire it. 

Good Work of the Boer Guns. 

"As the time wore on, indeed, the Boer artillery fire increased 
rather than diminished, and, although several of their smaller guns 
were put out of action (thirteen, it is stated), their gunners only 
worked the harder. We had forty-two guns in action exclusive of 
the Mountain Battery, but inclusive of the Natal Field Artillery. 



424 THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 

The latter, although in action, were not called upon to fire, as their 
guns were never within range of the long-distance rifles of the 
Boers. Our guns manoeuvred a good deal to try and get at the 
Boers from different positions, and to silence ' Long Tom,' as their 
forty-pounders have been nick-named. The Boer gunners sent 
shells flying through the air in scores ; but, although they were 
experts in getting the range, their shot did no great damage. 
Gradually, as the forenoon crept on, the Boer fusillade and can- 
nonade grew more continuous, and every minute two or three 
Maxims and Nordenfeldts, which, by the way, fire a kind of a small 
shell of a comparatively harmless character, were engaged. Our 
batteries stuck valiantly to their work, and their range and direction 
were all that could be desired, but the Boer artillery was superior, 
and it was easily seen that they greatly outnumbered our brigade. 
They formed the segment of a circle round us, with an artillery 
cross-fire sweeping down on us. 

''Wherever our infantry or cavalry went they drew Boer fire on 
them, and it was made very plain that those who estimated the total 
Boer force as numbering 20,000 were not exaggerating so much as 
was supposed. There was no central objective, no individual posi- 
tion to storm and take. The Boers seemed to be in every position 
in the vicinity, and we had not the men to storm half a dozen hills at 
once. Our men, were, therefore, slowly withdrawn, keeping up 
their fire as they retired, and by noon we were starting to make our 
way back to Ladysmith in sections and in good order. How long 
our batteries might have striven in vain to silence the Dutch pet 
gun, on which they seemed to place so much reliance, one cannot 
estimate. 

The Navy to the Rescue. 

"Luckily, a Naval Brigade from her Majesty's ship Tartar had 
just arrived in town, and quickly had two long twelve-pounders in posi- 
sition, with the loss of only one man and a slight hurt to one of the 
guns. Then the story had quite a different complexion, and ' Long 
Tom ' found an opponent fit to grapple with. At 1.05 p. m. eight or 
nine shells from the guns of our Naval Brigade had sufficed to put 



THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 425 

the enemy's forty-pounder out of action, and thereupon all firing, 
ceased. Our right flank retired and took up a position on two 
strong kopjes, while our left flank was still efficiently protected, and 
our line strong and effective. The dead silence after the awful roar 
and rattle of cannon was peculiar. At 1.45 p. m. our Naval Brigade 
again opened fire on the enemy's position. Their shot was not 
replied to. At 2.10 p. m. the enemy fired on our ambulance train, 
without, however, doing any damage. At 2.20 p. m. firing had not 
been resumed. The Boers had vacated their position, and our force 
returned to town. The Boers made no attempt to pursue us, 
although for some time after we had ceased firing ' Long Tom * 
was spitting out shells on the line of our exposed retirement, but 
no damage was done. As regards our losses little can be said. 
One of our guns which was damaged was speedily put right, and 
the whole of the batteries came in intact, with the exception of the 
Mountain Battery." 

A Heavy Loss. 

The Mountain Battery, with the Irish Fusiliers and Gloucester- 
shire Regiment, were afterwards found to have been captured by the 
Boers at Nicholson's Nek. It seems that the column, under Colonel 
Carleton's command, proceeded on its night march unmolested 
until within two miles of Nicholson's Nek. At this point two 
boulders rolled from the hill and a few rifle shots stampeded the 
infantry ammunition mules. The stampede spread to the battery 
mules, which broke loose from their leaders and got away with prac- 
tically the whole of the gun equipment. The greater portion of the 
regimental small-arm ammunition reserve was similarly lost. The 
infantry battalions, however, fixed bayonets, and, accompanied by 
the personnel of the battery, seized a hill on the left of the road 
two miles from the Nek with but little opposition. There they 
remained unmolested till dawn, the time being occupied in organized 
defence of the hill and constructing stone sangars and walls as 
cover from fire. 

At dawn a skirmishing attack on their position was commenced 
by the Boers, but they made no headway until 9.30 a. m., when strong 



42 6 THE BOERS ADVANCE TO THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. 

reinforcements enabled them to push the attack with great energy. 
The fire became very searching, and two companies of the Glouces- 
ters in an advanced position were ordered to fall back. The enemy 
then pressed to short range, the losses on the British side becoming 
vei*y numerous. 

At 3 p. M. the British ammunition was practically exhausted. 
The position was captured, and the survivors of the column fell into 
the enemy's hands. 

The enemy treated the wounded with great humanity, General 
Joubert at once dispatching a letter to General White offering safe 
conduct to doctors and ambulances to remove the wounded. A 
medical officer and parties to render first aid to wounded were 
dispatched to the scene of action from Ladysmith. 

The want of success of the column was due to the misfortune 
of the mules stampeding and consequent loss of guns and small- 
arm ammunition reserve. This was the first serious loss of the 
British in the war. 



CHAPTER XXXV, 



Sending a British Army to South Africa— Feeding the Army— The 
Hospital Ship ** Maine" — The Ship of Mercy — Arrival of 

General Buller. 



THE ultimatum of the Transvaal Government expired on Octo- 
ber I ith. Nine days later the first transports conveying the 
Army Corps left England for South Africa. By November 
i6th the entire force, with horses, guns, ammunition, stores, hos- 
pitals, pontoon troop, telegraph division, balloon sections, and other 
engineering details, had been despatched. The actual numbers 
were 1,836 officers, 49,783 men, 8,821 horses, and 120 guns (20 
batteries). The embarkation of this force was effected in four weeks 
at seven ports and in sixty-one vessels. Within five weeks and two 
days from the beginning of the war the whole fleet of transports 
had started, and within six weeks of the same date about half of 
them had accomplished the voyage of more than 6,000 miles, had 
reached Cape Town, and landed their troops or gone on to Natal. 

Such are the facts in brief concerning the despatch of the main 
body of the British army to South Africa. It was an event unex- 
ampled in the history of the world. Never before had anything like 
so large an army been sent over sea by any nation. Never had 
there been anything like the great procession of ocean liners steam- 
ing from England down the west coast of Africa, laden with soldiers 
and munitions of war. The list of them is worth reproducing here, 
as a curiosity in transportation. Here it is: 



SHIP. OWNER. TONNAGE 

Roslm Castle Donald Currie 4,487 

Harlech Castle .... " 3,264 

Linsmore Castle .... " 4,046 

Yorkshire Bibby 4,261 

Manila P. and 4,210 

Nubia *• 5,914 

(427) 



DATE OF 
SAILING. 

Oct. 20 



Oct. 21 



Southampton 



428 



SENDING A BRITISH ARMY TO SOUTH AFRICA. 



SHIP. 



OWNER, 



TONNAGE. 



Gascon Union 6,288 . 

Goorkha " 6,287 • 

Moor . " 4,464 • 

Mongolian Allan 4,838 • 

Malta P. and 6,064 • 

Pavonia Cunard 5,588 . 

City of Vienna G. Smith & Sons 4,672 . 

Mohawk Atlantic Transport Co 4,212. 

Jamaican West Indian & Pacific .... 4,502 . 

City of Cambria G. Smith & Sons ...... 3,844 . 

Oriental P. and 5,284 

Hawarden Castle . . Donald Currie 4,380 . 

Aurania Cunard 7,269 . 

Nomadic • • White Star 5,749 • 

Orient . . Orient Line 5,365 . 

Armenian Leyland 8,825 • 

Cephalonia Cunard 5,606 . 

America National S. S. Co 5,158 . 

Siberian Allan 3,846 . 

Britannic White Star 5,004 . 

Glengyle McGregor, Gow & Co ... . 3,455 • 

Orcana Pacific Stm. Nav. Co 4,803 

German Union 6,763 . 

Carisbrook Castle ... Donald Currie 7,626 . 

Persia Anchor Line 

Manchester Port .... Manchester Line 5,656 . 

Pindari Brocklebank 5,674 • 

Urmston Grange Houlder 4,830 . 

Rapidan Furness, Witty 7,500 . 

Kildonan Castle Donald Currie 9,653 ■ 

Briton Union 10,248. 

Idaho Wilson 6,300 . 

Wakool Lunds 5,013 • 

Ismore Johnston 7,744 • 

Servia Cunard' 7,392 • 

Catalonia " 4,841 • 

Colombian West Indian & Pacific 5,614. 

Formosa P. and 4,044 . 

Ranee Asiatic S. N. Co 5, 750 . 

Englishman Dominion 6,336 . 

Dictator Harrison 4,116 . 

Algeria Anchor Line 4,500 . 

Chicago Wilson, Leyland 6,400 . 

Cheshire Bibby 5, 708 . 

Bavarian Allan 10,200 

Templemore Johnston 6,276 . 

The Scot Union 7,815 . 



DATE 


OF 


SAILING. 


. Oct. 


21 . 


. Oct. 


22 . 


. Oct. 


23 • 


Oct. 


24 . 


. Oct. 


25 • 


.Oct. 


26 . 


. Oct. 


27 • 


. Oct. 


28 . 

< 


. Oct. 


30 • 


. Nov 


I . 


. Nov 


2 


. Nov. 


13- 


• Nov. 


4 • 


. Nov. 


5 • 


. Nov 


6 . 


. Nov 


8 . 


. Nov 


Q • 


. Nov 


10 . 


. Nov 


II . 



PORT. 

Southampton 



Glasgow 
Southampton 

London 

Queenstown 

Liverpool 

Southampton 



London 
Tilbury 

Southampton 

Tilbury 

Queenstown 

London 

Queenstown 

Southampton 

Queenstown 

Tilbury 

Birkenhead 

Liverpool 

Birkenhead 

Southampton 

Chatham 

Tilbury 

Birkenhead 

Queenstown 

Liverpool 

London 

Glasgow 

Queenstown 

Chatham 

London 

Liverpool 

Queenstown 

Liverpool 

Southampton 



SENDING A BRITISH ARMY TO SOUTH AFRICA. 



429 



SHIP. 



OWNER. 



TONNAGE. 



The Greek Union 4,747 . 

Canning Lamport and Holt ..... 5,400 . 

Montfort Elder Dempster 5,481 . 

Goth Union 4,738 . 

Sicilian Allan 6,284. 

Antillian West Indian & Pacific .... 5,608 . 

Narrung Lunds ... ....... 5,078 . 

British Princess British Shipowners' Co .... 7,326 . 



DATE OF 


SAILING. 


. Nov. 


II . . 


. Nov. 


12 


. Nov. 


13 ■ • 


. Nov. 


15 • • 


. Nov. 


16 . . 



PORT. 



Southampton 
London 
Queenstown 
Southampton 



London 
Southampton 



These were, of course, not all. Others followed later, in un- 
ending procession. A single ship the Karami, took in one cargo 
40,000,000 rounds of small arm ammunition in 3640 boxes, 7000 
rounds of shrapnel and common shell and 4000 rounds of 5 inch 
Lyddite shells in 2000 boxes, 851 boxes of fuses, and 40 boxes of 
pistol ammunition. 

Feeding the Army. 

The provisioning of the army was a tremendous undertaking, 
practically all supplies having to be sent down from England. The 
basis of the arrangement was that there should be four months' 
supplies always available at the seat of war for 116,000 troops and 
native transport helpers, and 51,000 horses and mules. At the 
moment there were only three months' supplies on hand in South 
Africa, but the additions necessary to bring the totals up to the four 
months' limit were dispatched with speed, and that limit, once 
reached, was maintained. 

Of the enormous quantities of food which go to make up a four 
months' supply for this number of men and animals few persons 
can have even the remotest idea. The one item of preserved meat 
alone stands at 12,000,000 pounds, and of biscuit there is the same 
quantity. Coffee stands at 400,000 pounds, tea at 200,000 pounds, 
sugar at 2,200,000 pounds, compressed vegetables at 800,000 pounds, 
and salt at 400,000 pounds. One article of diet which has been 
found particularly suitable for troops on active service is a prepara- 
tion of meat and vegetables cooked together. Of this a single 
contractor was sending tins at the rate of half a million each month. 
Of condensed milk, sweetened and unsweetened, the four months' 
supplies represent 360,000 tins, 



430 SENDING A BRITISH ARMY TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

Particularly interesting is the item of jam. This commodity 
was first given to the British troops in the Soudan expedition of 
1884 and 1S85, and it was afterwards supplied to the Ashanti ex- 
pedition. It was reported on very favorably on each occasion, for 
not only was it regarded with favor by the troops, but it was found 
to be a distinctly healthy food, especially on account of its antiscor- 
butic properties, an important consideration in the absence of a 
good supply of fresh vegetables. Jam has therefore taken its per- 
manent place as one good thing among others for troops to fight on, 
and the quantities to be kept in South Africa as a four months' 
reserve amounted to no less than 1,450,000 pounds, consigned in 
tins, each containing a single pound. In regard to the liquids the 
list provided for 80,000 gallons of rum, 12,000 bottles of whiskey, 
32,000 bottles of port wine, nearly 40,000 pounds weight of lime 
juice, a vast quantity of " sparklets " for making soda water, and 80 
tons of alum for purifying spring or river water of which the qual- 
ity might be doubtful. 

The Hospital Ship ''Maine." 

Conspicuous among the preparations for caring for the wounded 
we must mention the hospital ship Maine, This fine vessel was 
provided by Americans at a cost of nearly ^200,000. The work 
was undertaken and successfully executed by a committee of Amer- 
ican ladies living in London, in co-operation with others in the United 
States. The idea originated with Mrs. Blow, the honorary secretary 
of the committee. Lady Randolph Churchill undertook the task of 
giving form and direction to the scheme, of obtaining the permission 
of the War Office for carrying it into execution, and secured the 
co-operation of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid in giving it its distinctive and 
national character. But when the scheme had been formulated, after 
it had been set afoot, and even when it was receiving enthusiastic 
support, there still remained a great deal of work for the executive 
committee of American ladies entrusted with its welfare to do. An 
extremely large proportion of it fell upon Mrs. Ronald, the honorary 
treasurer. Subscriptions came from the United States, from Amer- 
icans in Paris, from Americans in every part of England and 



SENDING A BRITISH ARMY TO SOUTH AFRICA. 43 1 

Europe. The committee resolved that every cent subscribed should 
go into the ship, and nothing at all to secretarial expenses. Conse 
quently, the work of the treasurer, besides being a labor of love, 
was a labor of great difficulty and complexity. It was, however, 
grappled with by Mrs. Ronald, aided by Mrs. Van Duzer, in the 
most triumphant way. To Mrs. Van Duzer as much as to anyone 
the success of the undertaking has been due, for besides her execu- 
tive and secretarial duties she assumed those of giving information 
of every kind to the Press. Of the other ladies who constitute the 
executive committee it would be as hard as it is unnecessary to 
single out anyone as having contributed more especially to the work. 
The experience of Mrs. Paget and of Mrs. Griffin, in raising subscrip- 
tions, has been of the greatest use. Although the generous offers of 
British firms of goods and stores in kind have been gratefully accep- 
ted by the Maine committee, the whole of the subscriptions for the 
ship have come from American men and women. 

The Ship of Mercy. 

As regards the Maine herself, she was a freight steamer of the 
Atlantic Transport line before she was converted into a hospital 
ship. Her gross tonnage is nearly 3,000 tons ; she is 314 feet long 
by 40 feet broad, and her depth of hold is 27 feet. Her speed is 
ten to eleven knots. The alterations which have been made in her 
in order to fit her for a hospital consist chiefiy of the addition of a 
shelter deck and fittings similar to those supplied to her sister ship 
Missouri, which was fitted as a hospital ship for the Spanish- Ameri- 
can War. She has four wards and 200 beds. She is painted white, 
and she has an operating theatre fitted with Roentgen ray apparatus, 
electric sterilizers, and all the most modern requirements of surgery. 
She has a crew of fifty, and her medical and nursing staff consists 
of three surgeons, five nursing sisters and twenty-three ''order- 
lies" — as in England they call the men-nurses. The three medical 
men are Dr. George Eugene Dodge and Dr. Harry Heth Hodman, 
of New York, and Dr. Charles Henry Weber, of Philadelphia. Both 
the first-named surgeons have been the head hospital assistants of 
Dr. M'Burney at the Roosevelt Hospital. The party of trained 



432 SENDING A BRITISH ARMY TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

nurses include, Miss M. E. Hibbard, who has served as head of the 
United States General Hospital at Savannah, and later still has been 
on duty in the Surgeon General's Office in Washington, and is also 
Chairman of the Order of Spanish-American War and Army Nurses. 
Miss Manley also received her training in Philadelphia, of which city 
she is a native. She has been assistant superintendent in the Penn- 
sylvania Hospital, and she has served as a Red Cross nurse during 
the late war. Miss McPherson is from Maryland, and graduated 
from the Rhode Island Training School for Nurses at Providence. 
She has been in the United States Army service since 1897. Miss 
McVean is from Scottsville, New^ York. She received her training 
at the Bellevue Hospital, and has since seen much active service. 
An ambulance which was taken over by the American surgeons is 
the personal gift of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid. It was constructed after 
designs by Major E. T. T. Marsh. It will carry four wounded, and 
is fitted for immediate service. 

Arrival of General Buller, 

Almost simultaneously with the battle at Farquhar's Farm and 
the disaster at Nicholson's Nek, related in the preceding chapter. 
General Sir Redvers Buller reached Cape Town to take supreme 
command of the British forces in South Africa. Sir F. Forestier- 
Walker and his staff came to meet him. The ship was decked out 
in bunting from end to end. A guard of honor of the Duke of Ed- 
inburgh's volunteers lined the quay. A mounted escort attended 
the carriage. An enormous crowd gathered outside the docks. At 
nine o'clock precisely the general stepped on to the gangway. The 
crew and stokers of the Dunottar Castle gave three hearty cheers ; 
the cinematograph buzzed loudly ; forty cameras clicked ; the guard 
presented arms and the harbor batteries thundered the salute. Then 
the carriage drove briskly off into the town through streets bright 
with waving flags and black with cheering people. So Sir Redvers 
Buller went back again to South Africa, the land where his first mili- 
tary reputation was made, where he won his first Victoria Cross, the 
land in which he was now to discharge the heavy task confided f^ 
him by the Imperial Government, 



CHAPTER XXXVI 



The Boer Advance— The Defender of Mafeking— Defying the Boers 
—An Armored Train Fight— Unique Scene— Falling Back in 
Good Order— Small Losses— In a Beleaguered Town- 
Boers and Natives — The Kimberley Pot— 
At Ladysmith. 



WHILE the events recorded in the preceding chapters were 
occurring in Natal, there were scarcely less important oper- 
ations elsewhere. The Boers crossed the Orange River at 
Aliwal North, Bethulie, and elsewhere, and seized Coles- 
burg and other places in Cape Colony. They also pressed the 
sieges of Mafeking and Kimberley with vigor. Those places were 
completely isolated from the rest of the world, save for occasional 
messages sent out by native runners, who made their way through 
the Boer lines at deadliest peril to their lives. In each case the 
besieging force enormously outnumbered the garrison. Yet the 
latter not only held its ovv^n but now and then made a sortie, with 
good effect. 

The Defender of Mafeking. 

At Mafeking there was a British garrison of some six hundred 
men, under the command of Captain Baden-Powell, one of the ablest 
young officers, and the most inveterate practical joker in the British 
army. 

A young man, with the light, foky hair and the naturally san- 
guine complexion (when not sunbrowned, as it is in his case, by 
tropical and South African climates) that takes off years, he did not 
look his age, which was but a few months more than forty- two. He 
had the spare, sinewy frame that is deemed essential in the cavalry 
officer ; he was barely above the middle height ; he could hardly be 
called handsome, but he had a keen, bright face, which was pleasing, 

28 (433) 



434 THE BOER ADVANCE. 

if not finely featured. Strength of purpose was seen in his firm 
mouth, calm resolution in his pale, quiet eyes. 

Baden-Powell has himself given us an insight into his character 
in the words he once penned: "Don't flurry; patience gains the 
day." It was his motto when hi^ value was first tested as a leader 
of local levies on the West Coast of Africa under Sir Francis Scott, 
in the campaign against Prempeh, King of Ashantee. " Softly, softly, 
catchee monkey," was the native saying he laughingly adopted then, 
and he buoyed himself up with the philosophical reflection, as he put 
it, that "a smile and a stick will carry you through any difficulty in 
the world." His influence was in consequence soon established 
over his followers, and he got more work than most officers who 
have led natives with " frames of iron and hearts of mice." 

Defying the Boers. 

Against him and his handful of men came an army of several 
thousand Boers, under General Cronje, who was second in command 
only to General Joubert himself. A messenger was sent in to Baden- 
Powell, summoning him to surrender. 

"Surrender? Why should I?" asked " B-P." 

"To avoid further bloodshed," was the Boer's reply. 

"Ah, really!" said "B-P.," with a smile. "Will you be so 
good as to let me know — ah — when the — the bloodshed is going to 
begin ? Haven't had any in here yet, you know. Any of your men 
get hurt? Sorry, awfully sorry ; but — ah — hadn't they better move 
away, you know, out of danger? Wha-a-at? " 

And the grim Boer could not help laughing. 

A few days later General Cronje sent in another messenger, 
with a similar summons. It was the early afternoon of a hot day 
and Baden-Powell was asleep in his easy chair, taking his accus- 
tomed siesta. He was aroused and told a messenger had come. 
The messenger was shown in and stated his errand, saying that 
General Cronje did not want to prolong the bombardment and 
inflict needless damage. 

"Ah, really!" said " B.-P." Very kind of him; very kind, 
indeed. But please tell him not to be concerned on my account. 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 435 

I don't mind it a bit, you know. And I'll send him word when 
I've had enough. Yes; have a cup of tea?" 

And that messenger went away and told Cronje there was no 
use in trying to do anything with such a man, whereupon Cronje 
thought so, too, and went away In disgust to attack KImberley, 
leaving 4000 Boers to besiege 600 Englishmen at Mafeking. 

An Armored Train Fight. 

There was, of course, some real fighting at Mafeking, with 
losses chiefly on the Boer side. The first one occurred on October 
14. At daybreak that morning the garrison stood to arms, and the 
Boers were reported to be advancing from the south. At twenty- 
five minutes past five, a sharp rifle fire was heard from the north, 
and a galloper reported that the patrol under Lord Charles Caven- 
dish Bentlnck was in action. The firing lasted only a few minutes, 
and then the armored train under Capt. Williams, of the British 
South African Police, and Lieut. More, of the railway section, was 
ordered to move out and engage the enemy. 

Within seven minutes of Bentlnck's engagement, all the out- 
posts had reported having heard his firing, and about twenty minutes 
to six Capt. Wilson was dispatched to ascertain what had actually 
happened. It was found that the Boers had retreated, and the 
alarm flag was then hauled down, and the town guard retired. 

A Unique Scene. 

The armored train came into action at nine minutes past six. 
The scene inside it was, perhaps, unique In the annals of modern 
warfare. The crew of the leading truck, ''Firefly," consisted of a 
detachment of the British South African Police and railway volun- 
teers. Captain Ashley Williams himself being In command, Mr. 
Gwayne being the driver of the engine, and Mr. A. Moffat acting as 
stoker. The second truck was in charge of Lieutenant More, an 
engineer on the Bechuanaland Railway. Number one truck was 
armed with a Maxim, and its crew mostly with Lee-Metfords. Truck 
number two, which carried another Maxim, rejoiced In the name of 
Wasp. A third truck, the Gun, carried a Hotchkiss. 



436 THE BOER ADVANCE. 

As the train steamed past Lord Charles Bentinck's squadron 
they were received with a cheer, some one shouting ''They can't 
shoot for nuts ; go ahead." About two miles beyond Bentinck's 
men the Boers, about 600 strong, were sighted to the right front of 
the trains, and the leading truck immediately opened fire with the 
Maxims at 300 yards. The Boers replied with quick-firing guns 
and their Maxim, and in a minute or two both sides were fiercely 
raining bullets. The British manned every loophole, and as they 
served their guns passed more than one amusing and sarcastic 
remark, especially when the Boers retired gradually before them. 

The train advanced steadily, and as the Dutchmen now and 
again discovered the range, and began to drop shells too close, it 
kept on the move up and down the line, to the discomfiture of the 
Boer gunners. Meanwhile the Mauser bullets rattled merrily but 
impotently on the armor, each new discharge or volley being greeted 
with what the men called ''gun laughter." 

After the engagement had lasted some time. Colonel Baden- 
Powell decided that the armored train should return-, and he dis- 
patched Captain FitzClarence with a squadron of men to cover the 
retreat. The train then retired to meet FitzClarence. The troopers 
moved away to the right of the line. 

At first his advance was not opposed, but, after occupying a 
Kaffir kraal, the Boers attempted to outflank him, and a heavy and 
determined engagement ensued. The armored train at this juncture 
was quite unabled to assist FitzClarence, as the Boers were attack- 
ing his front, and still trying to turn his flank, so that the crew of 
the train were unable to fire for fear of hitting their own men. 

Fallingr Back in Good Order. 

Captain FitzClarence was then ordered to retire on Mafeking, 
but he sent to the train (which formed a sort of base) to say that, 
being hampered with his wounded, he could not return without rein- 
forcements. The phonophone, having been connected with the rail- 
way line telegraph, this message was wired to headquarters, and in 
response, Captain Lord Charles Bentinck was ordered to take his 
squadron and endeavor to disengage FitzClarence. 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 437 

Meanwhile the British were behaving splendidly, and pressing 
the Dutch hard. As a result of this, the Boers abandoned their 
position a little before mid-day, thus allowing FitzClarence, who was 
unquestionably outnumbered, to commence a retreat in good order. 

At this moment a detachment of South African Police, about 
1 2 strong, under Captain Williams, disembarked from the train and 
proceeded, unarmed, with two stretchers, to the spot where the 
wounded had been collected, and brought in those who had been 
rendered absolutely helpless. Those who were in the least able, 
hardily mounted horses and rode to the armored train. Among 
them was Lieutenant Braby, of Queenstown, who, though severely 
hit in the side, rode up to the train. 

At this juncture a newspaper correspondent galloped up to the 
detachment under Williams and informed that officer that more 
wounded men were lying farther out. The detachment then endea- 
vored to get hold of these wounded, but the Boers opened a heavy 
fire upon them. The correspondent's report turned out to be 
unfounded, and all wounded were safely got into the train without 
further casualties. 

FitzClarence, who had the Boers well in hand during the whole 
engagement, then commenced his retirement on the town, and the 
armored train triumphantly returned with the wounded at full speed 
to Mafeking, its crew doing what they could in the way of first aid 
to relieve those hurt. By luncheon time the red flag was hauled 
down in the town, and the first scrimmage with the Dutch was over. 

Small Losses. 

Of the crew of the train only three were struck, one, a man of 
the British South African Police, in the leading truck, named Cor- 
poral Taylor, and J. H, Hodge, a railway man, both of whom were 
scathed by splinters from a bullet which struck an iron upright, 
having come through the port-hole of the Maxim gun in the rear 
truck. A man named Kennedy was also scratched by a splinter. 
The efficacy of the train proved most thorough, and its crew must 
have done great execution amongst the Boers. They were able to 
fire with perfect confidence, feeling themselves secure. 



43^ THE BOER ADVANCE. 

In a Beleaguered Town. 

A few evenings later an impromptu concert was given at the 
chief hotel of Mafeking. The ladies attended neatly dressed, while 
the men appeared in top-boots, riding breeches and shirt sleeves. 
The vocal contributions included selections from ''The Geisha," 
*'The Gaiety Girl," and other popular operas, and all the choruses 
were joined in by all present with great enthusiasm. It was difficult 
to realize during the entertainment that one was in a besieged town, 
at which the enemy's guns were ready to hurl destruction. 

On Sunday, October 22, there was a truce by mutual consent. 
A letter was received from Commander Cronje, in which he con- 
fessed his inability to carry the town by storm, but warned the gar- 
rison that he expected a siege-gun, and would resume the bombard- 
ment at daybreak on Monday. This warning, he explained, was 
given to enable the British to remove their women and children to a 
place of safety. Commander Cronje further complained of the 
numerous Red Cross flags which were flying over the buildings in 
the town. Colonel Baden-Powell replied that he only wished Com- 
mander Cronje to respect the Red Cross flying over the hospital and 
convent. The other places at which it was displayed, he said, were 
stations for the reception of the wounded, and these he might re- 
spect or not, as he pleased. 

The enemy having taken up a position barring the way to the 
reservoir, Colonel Baden-Powell desired to ascertain the amount of 
the damage they had done, even if his men were unable to drive 
the Boers away. He consequently sent out a force on Monday 
morning, with instructions to remain at a distance, to "snipe" the 
enemy, rendering their position untenable. The party, however, 
got within 100 yards of the Boers, and as soon as they had placed 
their machine-gun in position the Boers hurriedly withdrew. Two 
natives were slightly wounded. As a return for Commander 
Cronje's courtesy in giving notification of his intended bombard- 
ment, Colonel Baden-Powell informed him that the town was sur- 
rounded by mines, some of which were arranged to explode auto- 
matically, while others were connected with headquarters. He 



THE BOER ADVANCE. 439 

added that the gaol was chiefly occupied by Commander Cronje's 
fellow-countrymen, and that he had hoisted the yellow flag over it 
to enable him to avoid firing at it. He added that if the Boers 
insisted on shelling unoffending civilians and women they would 
afford a precedent for the British when they invested towns in the 
Transvaal. 

Boers and Natives. 

Another correspondence passed between Commander Cronje 
and Montsioa, the paramount chief of the Baralong tribe. The 
former wrote to Montsioa informing him that the battle was not 
between whites and blacks, and asking him to send the women and 
children away from the stadt, the native compound, as he intended 
shelling it. Montsioa, after consultation with the magistrate, replied 
that he was unable to see how Cronje was not warring with his 
people, because he was carrying off the cattle and threatening his 
men with rifles pointed at their breasts. For himself, he said, he 
was a subject of the Queen, and the Queen had not instructed him 
to fight, but on the contrary had ordered him to keep quiet, which 
he would do. He was, he explained, unable to find a safer place 
for the women and children than his own kraal, because they were 
unable to sleep in the open veldt without shelter. 

The Kimberley Pot. 

At Kimberley, the chief event of importance appears to have 
been the destruction of a local cooking-pot by a Boer shell, coupled 
with a Boer suggestion that the garrison should surrender on pain 
of still more terrible bombardment. Colonel Kekewich, the com- 
mandant, treated the proposition for capitulation with good-natured 
scorn, and pieces of the broken cooking-pot were put up at auction 
and realized high prices as souvenirs. 

Mr. Cecil Rhodes improved the time of the siege by building 
new streets, laying out a park, and otherwise adorning the place. 
Frequent sorties were made against the besiegers, and heavy losses 
were inflicted upon the Boers. General Cronje arrived from Mafe- 
king early in November, and massed an army of twelve thousand or 
more Boers around Kimberley, but all his efforts to capture the 



440 THE BOER ADVANCE. 

town and ''take Rhodes to Pretoria in an iron cage" were 
unavailing. 

At Ladysmith. 

On October 31st the Boers commenced shelHng Ladysmith 
early in the morning, and a proclamation was issued, giving all 
strangers twenty-four hours' notice to leave the town. On November 
2d, telegraphic comrnunication with Ladysmith was cut off. The 
first communication, by pigeon post, brought the melancholy news 
that Lieutenant Egerton, R. N., had been wounded in the naval bat- 
tery and had since died. The investment of Ladysmith was now 
completed. The Boers occupied all the points of vantage, sur- 
rounding the town, and placed heavy guns in position. The town's 
ammunition and provisions were ample. The garrison amounted to 
about 10,000 men. A fitful and inefficient bombardment was kept 
up by the Boers. There were occasional sorties, but no assault on 
the town, and the investment was not close enough to prevent the 
British cavalry from being constantly out. General French was 
able to leave Ladysmith by the last train, previous to the invest 
ment, having been ordered to Cape Town to command the cavalry 
division. Some damage was done by the bombardment. One 
morning a Boer shell struck the Royal Hotel and burst under the 
room in which several officers, including Colonel Rhodes, were 
about to breakfast. A floor plank was blown up and stuck in the 
ceiling, the crockery was smashed, but not the pictures. Nobody 
was there. The officers had breakfast five minutes later. Another 
curious case was that of a telephone-operator of the Irish Fusiliers. 
He had gone out to get a light for his pipe. A shell burst in the 
telephone tent, pitched into his jacket and sliced the top off his 
helmet. The instruments were intact. 

Another shell pierced the roof of the Royal Hotel, ricocheted 
off the wall, fiew out the front door, and kicked up a paving stone 
without bursting. Mr. Stark, a naturalist, who was preparing a book 
on the entomology of Natal, was standing at the doorway. He was 
hurled into the street, having both his legs torn off. He said, 
" Look after my cat ! " and then died. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



The Plan of Genera! Buller's Campaign— Lord Methuen's Advance— 
Belmont — A Gallant Charge — Gras Pan and Enslin — The Great 
Charge— A Rude Surprise— Marvelous Valor on Both Sides— 
Modder River— The Boer Position — Boers Superior in 
Heavy Ordnance— Fully 10,000 Boers— The British Ad- 
vance—Terrible Shell and Rifle Fire- It Simply Rained 
Bullets— Rushes for the River— A Welcome Rein- 
forcement—Cavalry in Pursuit of Cronje. 



GENERAL DULLER reached Cape Town on the first of No- 
vember, and soon developed his plan of campaign. This 
comprised the sending northward of three divisions of his 
army. One, under Lord Methuen, was to march to the re- 
lief of Kimberley ; a second, under General Gatacre, was to strike 
at the Orange River, near Colesburg ; and the third, under General 
Clery, was to advance to the relief of Ladysmith. Of this last Gen- 
eral Duller himself at the end of November took general charge. 
It was intended that all three should reach their objective points at 
about the same time, so as to engage the enemy in the three places 
at once. As Lord Methuen had further to go, his army set out first. 
On November i the Boers advanced in Natal as far as Co- 
lenso, between Ladysmith and Pietermaritzburg, while in Cape 
Colony they captured Colesburg. The next day the Ladysmith 
garrison made a successful sortie westward, toward Bester's Sta- 
tion, and did much damage to the Orange State army. On the 
third, the Boers advanced from Colesburg and seized Stormberg, 
and proclaimed the annexation of that part of Cape Colony to the 
Orange State. A day or two later the Boers wrecked the bridge over 
the Orange River near Hopetown, to check the advance of Lord 
Methuen's army. 

Lord Methuen's Advance. 

Lord Methuen, with about ten thousand men, reached the 
Orange River, on his way to Kimberley, on November 12. Some 

(441) 



442 THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER'S CAMPAIGN. 

delay was occasioned by the necessity of rebuilding the bridge which 
the Boers had broken down, and several small engagements oc- 
curred in that neighborhood. General Cronje hastened down from 
Mafeking and massed an army of 15,000 or more Boers in strong 
entrenched positions in front of Lord Methuen, to check his advance. 
By November 20, however, Lord Methuen had crossed the river and 
reached Witteputs with little trouble. Two days later the Boers 
began shelling his army from their fortified hill-tops, and on the 23d 
the first battle was fought, at Belmont. 

Belmont. 

Setting out from Fincham's Farm the British advanced guard 
moved forward as far as Belmont Kopje, but were checked by the 
Boer shells. A messenger was sent back to Fincham's, and Lord 
Methuen at once dispatched the artillery to the scene of action. 

The guns speedily got to work and shelled the kopje freely, 
driving the Boers out of their position. Two Boer guns were cap- 
tured. The British loss was limited to one man, who was slightly 
wounded by a rifle bullet, but the Boers' casualties are estimated 
at thirty. Their position had considerable natural advantages. They 
occupied two isolated kopjes lying a quarter of a mile apart and 
commanding the open plain on all sides. 

The road having been thus cleared, the main British column 
moved forward from Fincham's Farm and Witteputs at five o'clock^ 
in the afternoon, in the direction of Belmont and the Kaffir Kop 
range. The camp was formed after five miles had been covered. 
The troops were, however, given but little rest. Preparations were 
made for a general advance shortly after midnight, and at three 
o'clock the next morning the attack was delivered. 

The position occupied by the bulk of the Boer forces was one 
of great natural strength among the hills of the Kaffir Kop range. 
The engagement commenced with a desultory rifle fire, begun by 
the Boers at a range of one thousand yards, and replied to by the 
British from the open plain. British artillery soon came into action 
and opened a heavy shell fire from the south and west on the Boers 
posted opposite the British right. 



THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER S CAMPAIGN. 443 

Under cover of the ofuns the Guards and the Hne battalions 
advanced with admirable steadiness in extended order. 

The Boers remained well hidden until the British line was 
within seven hundred yards of them. Their artillery then opened 
fire, but was soon silenced by the battery on the right. 

A Gallant Chargre. 

Directly the Boer guns ceased the 3d Grenadier Guards and 
the Northumberland Fusiliers charged straight up the face of the 
kopje in the teeth of a terrible fire. They stopped to raise a cheer 
when they had gained the summit, and then, without firing a shot, 
charged with the bayonet into the thick of the Boers, who were by 
this time in full retreat. They did considerable execution while at 
close quarters. 

Captain Eager and Lieutenant Brine were slain as they were 
going forward to the assistance of a wounded Boer who was holding 
up a white flag. 

The spectators of the charge by the Grenadiers and Fusiliers 
agreed that it was a magnificent feat of arms and worthy to rank 
amongst the most heroic deeds of the British infantry. 

As soon as the heights had successively fallen into British 
hands the Boers broke into flight. Cavalry and mounted infantry 
were loosed in pursuit, but the movements of the Boers were too 
rapid to permit of effective work. 

The British captured a large number of horses and cattle and 
took about 50 prisoners. They buried 69 Boers, but the latter's 
losses were actually much heavier, as they carried away with them 
a great many of the killed and wounded. They also succeeded 
in retaining their guns. The British losses were 226 killed and 
wounded, the Grenadiers alone losing 82 men. 

Gras Pan and Enslin. 

The next day a British armored train had a skirmish with the 
Boers at Gras Pan, and then, on November 25, Lord Methuen fought 
his second battle, at Enslin, between the Kimberley railroad line 
and the border of the Orange Free State. 



444 THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER S CAMPAIGN. 

As at Belmont, the Boers at Enslin were stationed on kopjes, 
or hills, about 200 feet high. These were furrowed with trenches, 
and the ground had been carefully measured to find the ranges. 
The Boers were well informed of the British movements and had 
carefully prepared their plan of campaign. 

At Enslin the armored train advanced slowly in front of the 
column and was already in action when the troops reached the bat- 
tlefield. Lord Methuen deployed the cavalry on the flanks while 
the artillery took up positions to shell the Boer trenches. At the 
same time the Ninth Brigade was sent forward in skirmishing order. 
At six o'clock in the morning an artillery duel began. 

The Boer guns were splendidly posted and they had the range 
to a nicety. Shell after shell burst right over the British batteries, 
but the British stuck to their guns. One shell struck the armored 
train. Subsequently the British guns withdrew a distance of 1000 
yards. This affected the Boer marksmanship, but the British 
artillery continued to make splendid practice, the Boers only re- 
plying at intervals. 

The Great Charge. 

Meanwhile the infantry were moving forward in preparation 
for the attack. The Northamptons worked from the left round to 
the right, where they were joined by the Yorkshires and Northum- 
berlands. After three hours of the artillery duel Lord Methuen 
gave the order for the force to advance and occupy the kopje which 
formed the centre of the position and the stronghold of the Boer 
defence. This was the great feature of the day. The men advanced 
to the charge with a brilliancy that could not be surpassed. All be- 
lieved that the attack would probably be a safe one, and that the 
position would be won with a trifling loss. 

A Rude Surprise. 

"When the Naval men started there was," says a correspond- 
ent with the British army, '' no sign of the enemy. It looked as 
though our hot shell fire had been too much for them, and that 
they had fallen back from their line of defense. 



THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER'S CAMPAIGN. 445 

"We had a sudden and rude awakening. While the Naval 
men were two or three hundred yards from the enemy's line they 
were met by one blaze of fire from right round the kopje. It was 
so murderous and well sustained that no troops could live before it. 

''It was here that Commander Ethelston, Major Plumbe, and 
other officers were mowed down. The men fell back for a few mo- 
ments for cover. 

''Then the charge was again sounded, and this time, rushing 
from point to point, taking all the shelter the ground afforded, 
the men reached the foot of the kopje. What that run was will 
be realized when I say that the shower of bullets striking the ground 
gave all the appearance of a raging sand-storm. 

"At the foot of the kopje the men halted for an instant only, 
then, with a wild yell, they went for the hill, burning to revenge 
themselves for the losses of officers and comrades. 

"The capture of the second line of kopjes, every one of which 
was strongly held, was only accomplished after very severe fighting ; 
but nothing could resist the impetuous advance of the British in- 
fantry, who continued steadily onwards to the last of the enemy's 
positions. 

"Here the fighting was fearful. The brunt of it was borne by 
the Marines. Though their officers were falling on all sides, the 
men clambered undauntedly up and over the boulders. Nothing 
could stop their rush. The remnant of the Boers fied to the plain, 
where the 9th Lancers were unable to follow them, their horses being 
exhausted. The detachment of New South Wales Lancers, how- 
ever, intercepted one party of the enemy attempting to retreat, and, 
charging, forced them back to their former positions. 

Marvelous Valor on Both Sides. 

"The fight was a revelation. How the Boers lay low under 
their defences without making any sign during the terrific shelling 
of the artillery was regarded as a marvel by military men. It was a 
feat scarcely expected of them. 

"On the other hand, the coolness of our men under fire, the 
determined work of the sailors and marines, and the persistency 



446 THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER's CAMPAIGN. 

with which all arms worked for the one result, is deserving of the 
highest praise. The fight was brilliant and picturesque in the ex- 
treme. 

'' Though the Boers sullenly retired their retreat was by no 
means a rout." 

Modder River. 

Lord Methuen left Enslin with the knowledge that another and 
much more severe battle would have to be fought at Modder River. 
He had ascertained that the Boers were in strong force on both 
sides of the river, and would dispute his passage to the last extrem- 
ity. In their retreat north after the actions of Belmont and 
Enslin Hill the Boers determined to offer a stubborn resistance to 
the advance of the Kimberley relief column, and chose for this 
purpose a position on the Modder River. They could not have 
had a better. They were well supplied with artillery, and the bridge 
over the Modder had been wrecked so as to make it impassable. 
The Boer commandant, with the river between him and the relief 
force, must have felt that it would require a whole army corps to 
drive him out. But he did not reckon on the bravery of the British 
infantry and the precision of its rifle fire and that of its artillery. 

The Boer Position. 

The Boer position can easily be described. On the south side 
of the Modder there is a vast plain stretching as far as the eye can 
reach along the river. The north bank had been strongly fortified. 
On the east side of the bridge stand the Rostalls Junction Hotel and 
the Farm Hotel — stone buildings with a number of outhouses of 
galvanized iron, the whole surrounded by trees. This group of 
buildings was the centre of the Boer position. Here their main 
body was concentrated. 

On the right the Boer line extended two miles. On the left 
from the bridge, it extended three miles, reaching beyond the bor- 
der into Free State territory. The Boer left flank rested on a farm- 
house just across the border. The farm was surrounded with earth- 
works, in which two guns were mounted. There were also two 
guns on the extreme right and others were distributed along the line. 



THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER'S CAMPAIGN. 447 

Boers Superior in Heavy Ordnance. 

Close to the bridge were several guns, including a ''Long 
Tom." The Boers were better equipped in the way of heavy ord- 
nance than the British force. About lOO yards in advance of the 
centre the Boers had a small post. Along the whole of his front 
he had dug rifle-pits, strengthened with breastworks of sand, re- 
vetted with galvanized'iron plates and with parapets of sand-bags. 
These works were admirably constructed and gave the riflemen 
absolutely bullet-proof cover. 

Fully 10,000 Boers. 

For several days before the battle Boers from both the Free 
State and the Transvaal were pouring into the Modder River posi- 
tion. There must have been fully 10,000 present on the day of 
battle. Lord Methuen did not anticipate encountering such a strong 
force there. Commandants Cronje and Delarey, of Kimberley, were 
in command. 

The British force, consisting of the Scots Guards, Grenadiers 
and Coldstreams, under Sir Henry Colville, the Northumberland 
Fusiliers and West Yorkshire Regiment, under General Pole-Carew, 
and the 9th Lancers, the New South Wales Lancers, the Mounted 
Infantry and three batteries of the Royal Field Artillery, advanced 
from Gras Pan on Monday and camped five miles from the Modder 
that night. 

The British Advance. 

"At daybreak on Tuesday," says a British correspondent on 
the field, *' the British advanced to the attack. Our patrols of Lancers 
and mounted infantry drew the enemy's fire all along the line. 
The engagement began at five o'clock, one of our batteries opening 
fire against the enemy's extreme left at a range of 4500 yards. At 
our third shot the enemy's guns at the farmhouse on the left replied, 
sending several shells in quick succession into the midst of our bat- 
tery and its cavalry escort. The artillery duel became general along 
the line, our batteries engaging the Boer centre and right. The Boer 
shells fell fast. Their range was excellent, but happily few exploded. 



448 THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER's CAMPAIGN. 

''After two hours of this artiller}^ engagement, the infantry 
brigades deployed under cover of our artillery, and the line ad- 
vanced. On the right were the Scots Guards, then the Grenadiers 
and the Coldstreams, and then the West Yorkshire and the North- 
umberlands and half a battalion of the Lancashire. The ist Argyll 
and Sutherland Highlanders, under Colonel Gough, arrived just in 
time to participate in the fight. They were at first pushed forward 
to support the Guards on the right, but later on were used to rein- 
force the 9th Brigade on our left. 

Terrible Shell and Rifle Fire. 

" The enemy hailed shells on our infantry, but not a rifle shot 
was fired at the British until they were within 800 yards of the Boer 
position. Then a fearful rifle fire broke out from the entrenchments, 
supplemented by that of several Nordenfeldt-Maxims. The bullets 
poured upon our advancing line, but all the time it was absolutely 
impossible to catch a glimpse of the enemy. Our men fired as best 
they could, while under this withering fusillade they fell in scores. 
There was no cover procurable, so the order was given to the men 
to lie down, and then for three hours it rained lead without inter- 
mission. I have never seen such a terrible fire as the British were 
exposed to. It meant instant death to stand upright. 

'* By a series of short rushes our men sought to get to closer 
quarters with the enemy. Bravely and well they fought. Undis- 
mayed by the torrent of shot and shell, the British strove to press 
forward, pouring volley after volley into the enemy's works. The 
ground was strewn with our dead. The British officers set a mag- 
nificent example to our men, sacrificing themselves unhesitatingly. 
Thus fell Colonel Stopford, of the Coldstreams, and many others, 
till the ground was littered with our dead. 

''It Simply Rained Bullets." 

"At length the Scots Guards reached the bed of a dried-up 
watercourse. They dashed into it, while the hail of the enemy's 
bullets swept over their heads. Then up the slope of the opposite 
bank they climbed, till they stood again on the level ground, fully 







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THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER'S CAMPAIGN. 449 

exposed to the enemy's fire from across the river. The cover 
afforded by the watercourse was gone, and they were assailed in 
front and flank by a murderous fire. It simply rained bullets. No 
one could live under this sweeping fire, and they lost heavily. 
Meanwhile the Grenadiers and Coldstreams and the Northumber- 
lands, the Highlanders, and the rest of the 9th Brigade were push- 
ing gallantly forward on both sides of the railway, which bisected 
our advancing line. The railway line is here higher than the sur- 
rounding plain, and everyone who tried to advance along it was hit. 
''The whole of our line was now about 600 yards from the 
south bank of the river, and taking advantage of the little cover 
procurable, our infantry lay for hours returning the Boer fire. Not 
one of the enemy was to be seen. It was haphazard shooting. No 
soldiers save British could have endured such a trying experience. 

Rushes for the River. 

" Several rushes were now made for the river at various points. 
A company of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders succeeded in 
getting across ; but they lost heavily, and had to fall back to the 
south bank. We found five of their dead in the Boer entrench- 
ments. 

*'The Northumberlands and the Guards also attempted the 
desperate task, and the former surprised a number of the enemy, 
who were all bayoneted. While the Argylls were pushing across 
the river they were fired on from the house and several fell, on which 
a dozen of the Highlanders stormed the house, and, though the 
enemy hoisted the white flag, no quarter was given. They were all 
shot. The enemy had acted most unscrupulously, shelling our field 
hospital, so that some of our wounded were killed, and repeatedly 
firing on our stretcher parties. 

*' Colonel Codrington, of the Coldstreams, with twenty of his 
men, and Colonel Sellheim, of the Queensland Volunteers, despite 
a terrible fire, swam across the river and closely reconnoitred the 
enemy. They had to swim back through the deep river and the 
strong current, joining hands. Two of the men were swept away, 
and Codrington was rescued from the stream with difficulty. 

29 



450 THE PLAN OF GENERAL BULLER's CAMPAIGN. 

A Welcome Reinforcement. 

''In the afternoon our artillery concentrated its fire on the 
centre of the Boer position, our naval battery on the left making 
some very fine shooting. At three o'clock the 6 2d Battery of the 
Royal Field Artillery, with a detachment of the Munster Fusiliers, 
arrived by train from Orange River Station. This was a very wel- 
come reinforcement. 

''The effect of our artillery fire was soon visible. That of the 
enemy slackened, and then ceased, except the Long Tom in the 
centre, which blazed away to the last. The British shells were set- 
ting fire to the buildings held by the enemy along the river bank and 
drove them out, many of the houses collapsing. Our shells must 
have killed hundreds of the Boers in the trenches. We ascertained 
to-day that the enemy were terrified by the effect of our shells. 
Numbers of them threw down their rifles and fled. 

Cavalry in Pursuit of Cronje. 

"The contingent headed by Cronje retreated about four o'clock 
towards Langeberg. Others followed in quick succession, heading 
for Jacobsdal. The firing continued on both sides till darkness 
closed in. About eight o'clock the main body of the enemy retired, 
taking the guns with them. In all, the fight lasted fourteen hours. 

"Next day the British again shelled the Boer position, and, 
when there was no reply, a cavalry patrol crossed the river and 
discovered that the enemy had fled. They visited the Boer 
entrenchments, and saw the dead lying everywhere. There were 
also numerous graves where the enemy had buried a number of the 
slain. The buildings occupied by the enemy were masses of 
smoking ruins. The column crossed to-day, and is now in full 
possession of both banks of the river. Our cavalry pursued the 
enemy for some miles, taking a number of prisoners." 

After this hard-won but decisive victory it was supposed Lord 
Methuen would quickly and easily advance to the relief of Kim- 
berley ; but such was not to be the case, as we shall presently see. 



CHAPTER XXXVni. 



The Situation in Natal— Naval Batteries for Inland Work— Estcourt- 
The Armored Train— The Boer Advance— Disaster to the Train— 
A Correspondent's Work— The Naval Batteries on Land- 
Good Work for the Guns— Gun Mottoes— A Bril- 
liant Sortie— Surprising the Boers— Destruc- 
tion of the Gun— The Return to Camp. 



THE military position in Natal in the first days of November, 
after the complete investment of Ladysmith, was one of 
considerable anxiety. The Boers were believed to be intend- 
ing to detach a considerable force, perhaps 5000 or 6000 
men, from the siege of Ladysmith and advance on Maritzburg. The 
only troops in the colony were the small force at Estcourt, com- 
posed of the Dublin Fusiliers, the Durban Light Infantry, a mounted 
company of the 60th Rifles, a squadron each of Natal Carabiniers 
and Imperial Light Horse, and a battery of the Natal Field Artil- 
lery, who had been squeezed out by the Boers from communication 
with the main body at Ladysmith, and subsequently forced to retire 
from Colenso by the approach of a large Boer force with artillery on 
Grobler's Hill, which commands that village from the north. These 
were strengthened by the battalion of the Border Regiment, which 
had been hurriedly sent round from the Free State border of Cape 
Colony. The total force assembled at Estcourt was scarcely 2000 
men. Besides these there were no troops in Natal whatsoever, 
though additional volunteer forces, Thorneycroft's Light Horse, 
Bethune's Horse, Murray's Horse, and Imperial Light Infantry, were 
being hastily raised in Durban and Maritzburg. The call for volun- 
teers was readily responded to, but a force raised in a few days 
could hardly be considered sufficient for the protection of so large a 
tract of country. 

On November 6th the Terrible arrived and Captain Scott at 
once prepared to assume the direction of the land defenses of 

(451) 



452 THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 

Durban. It was due to Captain Scott's energy and initiative that 
successful experiments had been made some weeks before with the 
mounting of naval guns on improvised carriages, which led to the 
sending up of the Powerful' s guns, under Captain Lambton, in time 
to save Ladysmith from being overpowered by the superior artillery 
brought down from Pretoria by General Joubert. 

Naval Batteries for Inland Work. 

Preparations had already been begun in Simonstown, and on the 
voyage round the Terrible had been converted into a regular ar- 
senal, where the construction of axles and bolts and the fitting 
together of gun-carriages went on night and day in spite of the 
most boisterous of southwesterly gales. Within a few hours of 
arriving outside of Durban the Terrible landed one 4.7-inch 48- 
pounder gun with a range of 13,000 yards, sixteen naval 12-pounders 
with a range of 9000 yards, two ordinary military 12-pounders and 
a number of 3-pounders and Maxims. Other guns were landed 
from the Thetis, which had come round the east coast of Africa, as 
well as from the Tartar and Forte. All the men-of-war in the 
harbor likewise landed detachments of bluejackets in khaki, with 
khaki-painted straw hats, and in two days Durban was made strong 
enough to resist any force that could be brought to bear against it. 
So strong, indeed, was the force, and so unlikely the prospect of 
an attack on Durban by any large army, that there was a general 
feeling of disappointment among the representatives of the Navy 
that Admiral Harris's orders strictly prevented any moving of the 
guns beyond Durban. If the sailors on the spot had been allowed 
their own way they would, no doubt, have taken the most of the 
guns straight up to Estcourt, with the determination to hasten on 
to the relief of Ladysmith the moment a sufficient force of infantry 
could be collected together. 

Estcourt. 

The whole burden of a possible defense of Maritzburg lay on 
the little force at Estcourt. For this task it was but poorly qualified, 
not only by its smallness but by its composition and the character 



THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 453 

of the country. It was almost entirely an infantry force. The 
three small mounted detachments that had come down with it from 
Ladysmith were insufficient even for scouting purposes. The anti- 
quated 9-pounders of the Natal Field Artillery with their limited 
range of less than 4000 yards could hardly be reckoned capable of 
meeting the guns that the Boers might bring against them. Est- 
court, like every other town or village in Natal, lies in a hollow sur- 
rounded by hills, and can only be safely held by a force large enough 
to occupy the whole range of encircling heights. But there was no 
other position that could well be taken without abandoning the pro- 
tection of the railway and endangering the line of retreat on Ma- 
ritzburg which it was essential to keep open. At any rate, it was 
not so completely dominated by surrounding heights as Colenso, 
and it was sufficiendy advanced to keep to some degree in touch 
with the movements of the Boer forces, and whenever possible to 
secure communication with Ladysmith by heliograph or by means of 
native runners. Accordingly the small force at Estcourt was in- 
structed to remain there as long as it could do so with safety, but 
to fall back along the railway line if there was any danger of its 
being surrounded. The task which General Wolfe Murray and, 
after November 10, Colonel Long had to carry out was not a very 
satisfactory one. The force was too small to venture on an effective 
attack on the Boers, and not mobile enough to harass them or 
even to keep properly in touch with them. The mere task of fur- 
nishing pickets for the numerous roads leading out of Estcourt 
absorbed a very considerable portion of the men. It was impossible 
to do anything heroic, and General Wolfe Murray probably did the 
best thing possible in taking his men on route marches to get them 
into proper trim by the time reinforcements should arrive. 

The Armored Train 

The only other active operation was the daily expedition of the 
armored train up the line towards Colenso. What the object of 
these expeditions was it really is not quite easy to discover. Every 
one in camp from the very first predicted the disaster which event- 
ually occurred, but with strange insouciance a new officer and another 



454 THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 

company or two of the overworked little force were dragged for 
several hours every day in the stifling boxes of boiler iron. The 
construction of the train was of the simplest character. It con- 
sisted merely of open trucks with walls of thick boiler plate all 
round to a height of about seven feet from the floor of the trucks. 
In these walls were three rows of loopholes, and outside were a few 
handles for climbing up. The trucks had no sliding doors and the 
only method of getting in was by clambering over the sides, a feat 
quite impossible to do with a rifle in one hand, and very difficult and 
slow without. No more admirable target could be devised than a 
soldier climbing in and out of one of these death-traps. In a per- 
fectly flat country a properly constructed armor train may be of 
some use for reconnoitering purposes. But between Estcourt and 
Colenso the line was like a regular switchback railway up and down 
a number of narrow valleys, and there is not a point for twenty 
miles up from which an unbroken view of 500 yards can be obtained 
on both sides of the line. For scouting purposes the armored train 
was perfectly useless. It could see nothing itself, while the puffing 
of its approach could be heard miles off. It had not even the ad- 
vantage of speed. To sum up, the armored train was about as 
useful as one singularly inefficient scout, while, at the same time, 
it daily endangered the lives of 100 or 150 men. 

The Boer Advance. 

About November nth the Boers, who had been perfectly inac- 
tive on Grobler's Hill for the whole preceding week, began to show 
signs of advancing. Skirmishing parties entered Chieveley, the 
next station south of Colenso, while others were reported to be 
advancing east of Estcourt towards Weenen, and it was feared that 
an attempt might be made by them to march south of Estcourt and 
Mooi River. On the 13th, the battalion of the West Yorkshire 
Regiment arrived, and was followed early the next morning by the 
naval detachment from the Tartar, which had been sent up from 
Maritzburg. On the morning of the 14th it was reported that the 
Boers were advancing in some force along the Colenso and Weenen 
roads, and on the firing of an alarm gun at about eleven o'clock the 



THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 455 

camp was mobilized. Almost the whole force was sent out on to 
the hills east of the town, while at the same time tents were struck 
and the wagons packed, so that everything should be ready for an 
immediate retreat if a serious attack by any very large force should 
be contemplated. The Boers, however, who probably did not 
number much more than 200 men, and were a scouting and foraging 
party rather than an attacking force, made no attempt to advance, 
after having exchanged a few rounds with the mounted detachments 
which Colonel Long had sent to the front, but remained on the hills 
behind Hodgson's farm, about five miles north-east of Estcourt. 
Heavy rain fell in the afternoon, which made things very uncom- 
fortable for the soldiers. For though it had been decided not to 
retreat that night it was thought wiser to let the men bivouac out in 
the open and not to pitch the tents again until sufficient reinforce- 
ments arrived to render Estcourt absolutely secure. 

Disaster to the Train. 

On that same day a mounted patrol advanced beyond Chieveley 
and found the Boers had tried to blow up a culvert, without doing 
more than bending the rails upwards, and drove a party of them 
who were engaged in breaking up the line in headlong flight. The 
next morning the armored train went out at hve o'clock, this time 
with a naval seven-pounder and six men of the Tartar s gunners on 
an open truck in front of the train. Behind the gun was an armored 
truck, then the engine, then two more armored trucks, and an open 
car containing track-layers' materials. Captain Haldane, of the 
Gordons, was in command, with one company of the Dublin Fusi- 
liers, and a company of the Durban Light Infantry. The train went 
nearly as far as Chieveley. On its way back, about one and a 
half miles from Frere, it was fired upon from rising ground on both 
sides of the line, and a perfect shower of bullets and shells from 
three guns poured into it at some 800 yards distance with an accu- 
racy which evidently showed that the range had been marked before- 
hand. Full speed was put on, but shortly afterwards the track-layers' 
car and the two armored trucks, which were now in front, ran off 
the 1-ails at a curve and toppled over. 



456 THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 

The 7-pounder fired three shots after the train stopped, but 
was then struck by a shell and disabled. The Dublins scrambled 
out of their trucks and spread out into skirmishing order, and a run- 
ning fight was carried on by them and some of the Durbans with the 
enemy, who kept carefully under cover on the surrounding kopjes, 
at from 800 to 1,500 yards away. Our men endeavored subse- 
quently w^hen the engine got off to get back towards the bend in the 
Blaauw Krantz river towards Frere, but it is evident that they failed 
to escape being surrounded. 

A Correspondent's Work. 

Meanwhile, an attempt w^as made to get the derailed trucks in 
front of the line, so as to allow the engine to escape. It was here 
that Mr. Winston Churchill, who was in the train as correspondent of 
the "Morning Post," distinguished himself by his courage and pres- 
ence of mind, superintending the moving of the trucks and taking 
over the control of the engine from the wounded engineer. After 
nearly an hour's hard work and harder fighting the line was cleared, 
but the cars behind had to be uncoupled and left. As many of 
the wounded and non-combatants as could be found were picked up by 
Mr. Churchill and a few other courageous volunteers and put on the 
engine and tender, which then steamed off towards Frere. Captain 
Haldane and Mr. Churchill, however, got off again to take part in 
the fighting, and are missing with about 130 others. Captain Hal- 
dane was reported to have been wounded in the shoulder and Mr. 
Churchill in the hand. The rest of the force surrendered soon after, 
as the Boers told Dr. Bristoe, when he came out to ask for infor- 
mation about the casualties, that there were only three killed and 
ten wounded. Colonel Long on receipt of the news had at once 
sent out all available mounted men, about 180 all told, to Estcourt, 
to try and relieve the force that had thus been caught in a trap, but 
they came too late. 

The Naval Batteries on Land. 

The most interesting feature of the siege of Ladysmith was the 
effective use of naval batteries so far inland. 



THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 457 

From the first It would seem that what was wanted was long- 
range guns which could shell the enemy at a distance outside the 
range of their Mauser rifles, and the captain of the Terrible, 
therefore, proposed a field mounting for the naval long 1 2-pounder 
of 12 cwt, which has a much longer range than any artillery gun 
out here. A pair of wagon wheels were picked up, a balk of tim- 
ber used as a trail, and in twenty-four hours a 1 2-pounder was ready 
for land service. Captain Scott then designed a mounting for a 
4.7-inch naval gun by simply bolting a ship's mounting down to 
four pieces of piling. Experts declared that the 1 2-pounder would 
smash up the trail, and that the 4.7-inch would turn a somersault; 
the designer Insisted, however, on a trial. When it took place noth- 
ing of the kind happened, except that at extreme elevation the 12- 
pounder shell went 9000 yards, and the 4.7-inch (lyddite) projectile 
12,000 yards. Captain Scott was, therefore, encouraged to go 
ahead, and four 12-pounders were fitted and sent around to Durban 
in the Powerful, and also two 4.7-inch guns. 

Good Work of the Guns, 

A naval officer, writing from the camp, says: "The Boers 
complain that we are not ' playing the game ; ' they only expected to 
fight Rooineks, not sailors who use guns that range seven miles, 
and they want us to go back to our ships. One of our lyddite shells 
went over a hill Into their camp, killed fourteen men and wounded 
thirty. Guns of this description are not, according to the Boer Idea, 
at all proper, and they do not like our way of ' staggering humanity.' 
Had these guns been landed earlier how much might have been 
saved! It is a peculiar sight to see the 4.7-Inch fired. Many 
thought it would turn over, but Captain Percy Scott appears to have 
well calculated the stresses ; there Is, with a full charge of cordite, 
a slight rise of the fore end, which practically relieves all the fas- 
tenings. Hastily put together, and crude as it looks, it really 
embraces all the points of a scientific mounting, and it wants a 
great expert to pronounce an opinion on it. The gun is mounted 
so high that to the uninitiated it looks as if it must turn over on fir- 
ing, but it does not, and the higher the angle of elevation, the less 



45^ THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 

Strain there is on it. The arrival of our guns practically put the 
R. A. guns out of use, for they come into action 2000 yards behind 
those supplied to the soldiers and then make better practice. Their 
arrival has, everyone admits, quite changed the situation." 

Captain Scott also rigged up a searchlight on a railway truck 
with flash attachment, the idea being to use it for communication 
with Kimberley and Ladysmith. It has been tested at a distance of 
forty miles, and proved a great success. 

Gun Mottoes. 

Each mounting, by the way, has an inscription upon it, presum- 
ably concocted by the ship's painter. One, a parody upon the 
Scotch proverb, runs : *' Those who sup with me will require a devil 
of a long spoon ; " another, " For what we are going to receive, may 
the Lord make us truly thankful — Oom Paul" ; and a third, ''Lay 
me true and load me tight, the Boers will soon be out of sight." 

A Brilliant Sortie. 

One of the most brilliant and successful sorties made from 
Ladysmith was that of December 8, effected at night by the Natal 
Volunteers, under the leadership of General Hunter. The force 
consisted of 500 Natal Volunteers, under Colonel Royston, and 100 
Imperial Light Horse, under Major Edwards, together with a small 
detachment of engineers and artillerymen under Captain Fowke 
and Lieutenant Turner, R.E. Major Henderson, of the Argyll and 
Sutherland Highlanders, accompanied the party. 

More than one halt had to be called to collect the scattered 
soldiers before the storming party reached its objective — the emi- 
nence known as Gun Hill, whence the Boer " Long Tom " has for 
so long been throwing its shells into the town. 

At length it rose out of the darkness, a precipitous ascent of 
400 feet, completely commanding the plain outstretched below it. 
Without waiting for the word of command, the men extended 
into a single line along the face of the hill, and began to make 
their way up. It was a stiff climb over great boulders and loose 
stones, with, towards the summit, a steep shelf of rock to surmount. 



THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 459 

Surprising the Boers. 

The force had made considerable progress towards the top 
before they were challenged by a Boer picket posted amid the bush 
on the plain. No answer was returned, and the sentries at once 
took the alarm. They raised a frantic shout of " Shoot, shoot ! The 
Redcoats are upon you ! " and effectually roused their comrades 
above to a sense of the situation. 

A rifle shot rang out, and then another, and Major Henderson 
and one of the guides fell wounded. 

The Boers on the crest of the hill— who, it appears, had been 
nearly surprised in their sleep — rushed to the edge and opened an 
indiscriminate fire. It was impossible, however, to see anything 
except the red flashes at the muzzles of the rifles. 

The alarm had been taken too late, and the defense was un- 
availing. Firing a few shots in reply, the storming party dashed 
upwards with ringing cheers and secured a footing on the top. 

The well-known aversion of the Boers to any form of hand-to- 
hand fighting served the British in good stead. Some one called 
out, " Fix bayonets ! " notwithstanding that there were only four 
bayonets, belonging to the sappers, in the whole force, and at the 
cry of *' Give them the cold steel ! " the enemy turned and fled into 
the darkness. 

In order to give the rest of the force time to complete its work, 
Major Edwards, who was the first man to set foot on the summit, 
led his men of the Imperial Light Horse to the far side of the hill, 
and poured volleys in the direction of the Boer retreat. 

Destruction of the Gun. 

Meanwhile, the volunteers and sappers were making a hurried 
search for the big guns. For a moment the horrible thought arose 
that there might be no guns at all — that the enemy, as had often 
been the case of late, had somehow got wind of the projected attack 
and had removed the cannon to a safe distance. 

But at last, to the delight of everybody, ''Long Tom" itself 
was discovered, snugly ensconced behind a parapet of sandbags no 
less than 31 feet thick. A 4.7-inch howitzer was found in an em- 



460 THE SITUATION IN NATAL. 

placement hardly less strong, with a Maxim gun between the two — 
posted there, apparently, for the purpose of repelling any such as- 
sault as the one that had actually been delivered. 

Lieutenant Turner, with a party of two sappers and six artil- 
lerymen, at once took charge of " Long Tom," and, getting to work 
with crowbars and hammers, smashed the breech and the elevating 
gear. Two charges of gun-cotton were then placed In the breech 
and muzzle and connected with fuses. 

While " Long Tom " was thus being provided for, similar atten- 
tions were bestowed on the howitzer by Captain Fowke and the 
other sappers and gunners. 

The preparations being complete, General Hunter ordered 
the men to make their way back down the hill, and the fuses were 
lighted with the burning ends of the officers' cigars. 

Everybody fell back, excepting Captain Fowke, who remained 
midway between the big guns, and, after a couple of minutes' sus- 
pense, a loud report showed the object had been accomplished. 

Captain Fowke hastened to examine the debris, and found that 
the 6-Inch gun had two gaping holes in its muzzle, which was badly 
bulged, and that the breech and rifling had been destroyed beyond 
all chance of repair. The howitzer was in an even worse plight, the 
explosion having wrecked the carriage as well as the gun. 

The Maxim was seized and carried off, and the men began the 
return journey to camp across the plain, without being In any way 
molested by the enemy. 

The Return to Camp. 

In the course of the march back, the storming party were joined 
by a body of 400 of the Natal Volunteers, who had come out to pro- 
tect the flanks. The town was reached just as dawn was breaking, 
and the triumphant little force were received with enthusiasm by 
their comrades. 

Sir George White himself met them at the farthest outpost, and 
expressed himself highly pleased with the result of the sortie. He 
afterwards visited the men in camp and congratulated them in the 
warmest terms. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



A Week of British Disasters— Meeting the Foe— Forced to Retire- 
Magersfonteln— Making the Attack— Fine Work of the Boers- 
Heroic Deeds— Dreadful Losses— The Third Disaster. 



CLOSE upon the successful sortie from Ladysmith recorded in 
the preceding chapter came a series of disasters all along the 
British line. The first was at the centre, where General Gat- 
acre was led into a Boer ambush. General Gatacre left Put- 
ter's Kraal, his headquarters, in the afternoon of December 9th 
with a fighting force slightly over 4000 strong, including a battalion 
of the Northumberland Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Rifles, details of 
mounted infantry, and the 77th and 74th Field Batteries. Train 
was taken as far as Molteno, and thence the force proceeded on foot. 
The night march was a memorable one. The moon shone 
brightly till half past eleven, and then went down. On and on went 
Gatacre's men, tramping over a rocky surface road, kicking against 
stones, and occasionally pulled up by large boulders, which had 
fallen in the way, and ever and anon striking off into the veldt, 
where the footing was softer, and the ceaseless tramping was silenced. 
Thus for seven hours the little force slipped and tumbled on- 
wards until a natural basin was entered, at the end of which, the 
Rooi Kop, the enemy's main position, stood out in strong silhouette 
against the morning sky. 

Meeting the Foe. 

Morning was just breaking, and it was comparatively bright 
Just as the Irish Rifles, with Gen. Gatacre and his staff at the 
head of the column were entering the depression, a hot and unex- 
pected fire was opened by the Boers on the right. Following the 

(461) 



462 A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 

Rifles were 106 of the Northumberland Fusiliers, and the rear was 
brought up by the artillery. 

The column was marching four abreast, but notwithstanding 
the suddenness and fierceness of the attack, there was not the 
slightest confusion or consternation. Gen. Gatacre and his officers, 
with the utmost coolness and promptitude, brought the column into 
line ot action, and in a short time the battle was raging at its 
hottest. 

The British artillery climbed up and got into position to the 
left, on the side of a small kopje, while the Rifles and Northumber- 
land Fusiliers clambered up the hill held by the Boers in skirmish- 
ing order. They were met by a galling fire, but bravely pressed 
forward, and, notwithstanding the extremely difficult nature of the 
ground, succeeded in reaching the top. 

Forced to Retire. 

When they arrived there, however, they found they were the 
centre of a tremendously hot rifle fire, which was poured in upon 
them from three different directions in flank and rear, and they were 
forced to retire. 

Meanwhile the artillery had got into action, and drew the fire of 
the enemy's guns. A protracted artillery duel ensued, in which the 
guns belched forth a terrific fire, demoralizing the Boer gunners in 
the fort which they had constructed at the corner of the kopje. 

The position being unassailable, and the Boers in overwhelm- 
ing numbers, the British infantry, with Maxim detachments, were 
ordered to retire towards Molteno. The artillery remained to cover 
the retreat. 

Their fire was terrific ; but the Boers brought their guns along 
the tops of the kopjes and followed the troops on the road below 
for miles, sending shell after shell down into the valley. The Boers' 
practice was good, their shells dropping and bursting on the road- 
way close to the British, but so skillfully were the troops handled 
that not a man was hit during this stage of the retirement. 

Finally, the Boers gained a kopje commanding the road at closer 
range, and from this position opened with rifle fire. 



A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 463 

The bullets, however, fell short, and the troops arrived at Mol- 
teno about 1 1 a. m., after some thirty hours' work, Including a des- 
perate engagement lasting three hours. 

Not less than 607 British soldiers of the Northumberland Fusi- 
liers and Irish Rifles were taken prisoners by the Boers, and the 
net result of the whole affair was a serious loss to the British. The 
British lost 25 killed and 68 wounded. The Boer loss was only 5 
killed and 14 wounded. 

Magersfontein. 

Almost simultaneously with this disaster to General Gatacre 
came a drawn battle amounting almost to a disaster to Lord Me- 
thuen, at Magersfontein, north of the Modder River, and just across 
the Orange frontier — the first engagement on Boer ground. 

No precaution that could be dictated by prudence had been 
overlooked. On Saturday the kopjes occupied by the Boers were 
heavily shelled by the Naval Brigade, and on Sunday the howitzer 
battery and others, with the Naval 4.7 gun, poured a hot fire Into 
the Boer laager and kopjes. 

The latter operation was planned In the way best calculated to 
demoralize the Boers. The Naval gun was posted to the west of 
the railway and the batteries to the east, with the Northampton- 
shire Regiment, the Yorkshire Light Infantry and the Cavalry in 
support. 

The whole of the Artillery shelled the position, almost without 
intermission, until nightfall, the howitzers and the Naval gun using 
lyddite with destructive effect. The Boers, however, made but a 
feeble attempt to reply with the twelve guns at their disposal. 

Makingr the Attack. 

At midnight, on Sunday, the Highland Brigade, under Major 
General Wauchope, consisting of the ist Highland Light Infantry, 
the I St Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the 2d Royal High- 
landers, and the 2d Seaforth Highlanders, were ordered to move on 
the enemy's position. They were led thither by guides, through a 
night the darkness of which was intensified by a heavy rainfall. 



464 A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 

At twenty minutes past three, while they were still in quarter 
column, they encountered a terrific fire from the trenches at the base 
of the kopjes in the occupation of the Boers. 

Although it was not yet daylight, the Boers' volleys did tre- 
mendous execution at a point-blank range of 300 yards. 

The Brigade was compelled to fall back after suffering heavy 
loss. The old 42d (the Black Watch) could, on reforming, muster 
only 160 men. 

Nothing more could be done until the rest of the main body 
had come up. Then, at daybreak, the artillery, consisting of thirty- 
one guns, began a bombardment which lasted throughout the day, 
the howitzers, as before, throwing their heavy lyddite shells. 

The Boers made no attempt to reply with their guns until the 
evening, when a few shells were sent among the troops. 

But though their artillery was virtually silent, their rifle fire 
was so persistent, concentrated, and well-aimed that it was impos- 
sible for the British infantry to take their position by assault. 

Fine Work of the Boers. 

A detachment of Boers, posted among some thick bushes to 
the east, kept up a most destructive fire on the British right, and, 
with that remarkable talent for taking cover which they have dis- 
played throughout, the Boers were practically invisible. 

In the course of the forenoon, the ist Battalion of the Gordon 
Highlanders were sent to the front by Lord Methuen, and advanced 
with the utmost gallantry to attack the enemy's centre, close to the 
place where lay their dead and wounded comrades of the Highland 
Brigade. 

It was, however, physically impossible even for these troops to 
take the enemy's trenches. The Boers had had free recourse to 
barbed wire entanglements, which offered sufficient obstacles even 
after the damage inflicted by the fire of the artillery. 

Heroic Deeds. 

Many acts of heroism are recorded. An officer of the army Med- 
ical Corps attended the sick in the firing line until he was killed. 




A Wealthy Burgher. 




Sir Redvers Buller, British Commander-in-Chief. 



A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 465 

A Seaforth Highlander told that while he was lying wounded 
he saw a Boer, a typical German in appearance, faultlessly dressed, 
with polished top-boots, walking about among the ant-hills, with a 
cigar in his mouth, picking off the British troops. He was quite 
alone, and it was very apparent, from his frequent use of field-glasses, 
that he was doing his best to single out the officers. 

A wounded Boer prisoner, who was brought in with the 
wounded Highlanders, stated that one lyddite shell which was fired 
on Sunday fell plump in the middle of a large open-air prayer- 
meeting, which was being held to offer up supplications for the suc- 
cess of the Boer arms. The lyddite shells are reported to have had 
an enervating effect on the Boers who, while not objecting to taking 
the risk of rifle fire, when safely entrenched, objected to the "gift 
(poison) bombs," as the shells are described. 

Dreadful Losses. 

The losses on both sides in this battle were very heavy. The 
famous Black Watch Regiment, on the British side, was nearly anni- 
hilated, and the guards suffered heavily. Among the killed were 
the gallant and distinguished General Wauchope and Lord Win- 
chester, the premier Marquis of England. On the Boer side the 
loss was even heavier, the total roll of dead and wounded amount- 
ing to nearly 2,000. 

It was the bloodiest battle of the war thus far, and the most 
indecisive. Both armies remained where they had been before. 
But, morally, it was a disaster to the British. It showed that Lord 
Methuen's force was not strong enough to break through the Boer 
line for the relief of Kimberley ; and it tended greatly to increase 
disaffection among the Dutch of Cape Colony. Hundreds of these 
joined the Boers as a result of General Gatacre's mishap. Thous- 
ands of them did so after this terrible check to Lord Methuen's 
advance. 

The Third Disaster. 

Nor was that all. The British had now suffered disaster to two 
of the three armies that were moving northward. News from the 
30 



466 A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 

third was anxiously awaited, and when it came, to the dismay of all 
Britain, it, too, was bad. General Buller had personally taken 
charge of the advance in Natal, toward Ladysmith, and he met, at 
the Tugela River, a repulse even worse than that of either Gatacre 
or Methuen. This occurred on December 15, in the same week 
with the other two reverses. On the evening of that day General 
Buller himself sent to London this report of his mishap : 

** I regret to report serious reverse. 

"I moved in full strength from camp near Chieveley this morn- 
ing at 4 A. M. 

''There are two fordable places in the Tugela, and it was my 
intention to force passage through at one of them. 

"They are about two miles apart and my intention was to 
force one or the other with one brigade, supported by a central 
brigade. 

"General Hart was to attack the left drift, General Hildyard 
the right road, and General Lyttelton in the centre, to support either. 

" Early in day I saw that General Hart would not be able to 
force a passage, and directed him to withdraw. 

" He had, however, attacked with great gallantry, and his lead- 
ing battalion, the Connaught Rangers, I fear suffered a great deal. 
Colonel Brooke was severely wounded. 

"I then ordered General Hildyard to advance, which he did, 
and his leading regiment, the East Surrey, occupied Colenso Station 
and the houses near the Bridge. 

"At that moment I heard that the whole of the artillery I had 
sent back to the attack — namely, the 14th and 66th Field Batteries, 
and six naval 1 2-pounder quick-firing guns, the whole under Colonel 
Long, in his desire to be within effective range, advanced close to 
the river. 

" It proved to be full of the enemy, who suddenly opened a 
galling fire at close range, killing all their horses, and the gunners 
were compelled to stand to their guns. 

"Some of the wagon teams got shelter for troops in a donga, 
and desperate efforts were made to bring out the field guns, but the 



A WEEK OF BRITISH DISASTERS. 467 

fire was too severe, and only two were saved by Captain Schofield 
and some drivers, whose names I will furnish. 

"Another most gallant attempt with three teams was made by 
an officer whose name I will obtain. 

" Of the eighteen horses, thirteen were killed, and as several 
of the drivers were wounded, I would not allow another attempt, as 
it seemed they would be a shellmark. sacrificing loss of life to gal- 
lant attempts to force passage unsupported by artillery. I directed 
the troops to withdraw, which they did in good order. 

" Throughout the day a considerable force of the enemy was 
pressing on my right flank, but was kept back by the mounted men 
under Lord Dundonald and part of General Barton's brigade. 

"The day was intensely hot, and most trying to the troops, 
whose conduct was excellent. 

''We have abandoned ten guns, and lost by shell fire one. 

"The losses in General Hart's brigade are, I fear, heavy, 
though the proportion of severely wounded is, I hope, not large. 

"The 14th and 66th Field Batteries also suffered severe losses. 

** We have retired to our camp at Chieveley." 



CHAPTER XL. 



Great Britain Roused to Action— Great British Preparations— Lord 

Roberts— Tine Hero of Kandalnar— Lord Kitchener— Winning 

His Way— The March to Khartoum— Macdonald. 



THIS series of disasters roused the British Government and 
nation to full realization of the magnitude of the task before 
them. It was seen that the military strength of the Boers 
was far greater than had been supposed. The Boers had 
twice as many men, and twice as good armaments, as the British 
had given them credit for. General Joubert himself frankly ex- 
plained the secret of it. Since the Jameson raid the Boers had, 
according to him, regarded war as inevitable, and they had acted on 
that belief ''To arm ourselves unremittingly, and to hide these ar- 
maments from the English — such was our object. We have fully 
succeeded therein. We often allowed secret English agents to 
penetrate into our arsenals, where there was merely old artillery 
material, but we carefully concealed our modern material, of which 
they thus knew nothing until the very eve of the war." 

Great British Preparations. 

The British Government promptly decided to increase the 
forces in the field to the neighborhood of 200,000 men, and at the 
same time to call out reserves and volunteers at home to the num- 
ber of 300,000 more, so as to show the Powers of Europe what the 
British Empire could do in case of need. 

The British people responded to the call with splendid patriot- 
ism. Rich men equipped companies and regiments at their private 
expense. Cities vied with each other in raising troops. Men 
rushed eagerly to enlist. W^here 10,000 volunteers were called for 
100,000 offered themselves. The Queen's son, the Duke of Con- 
naught, was eager to go to the front, but was prevailed upon to 

(468) 



GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 469 

remain at home and take the important place of Commander-in- 
Chief of the Army in Ireland, in place of Lord Roberts, who was 
sent to the Cape to take supreme command there. 

For now it was decided to send to the scene of war the three 
foremost generals in the British army — Lord Roberts, the hero of 
the march to Kandahar ; Lord Kitchener, who had conducted the 
campaign to Khartoum and had smashed Mahdism and redeemed 
the Soudan ; and General Macdonald, the hero of the battle of 
Omdurman. 

Lord Roberts. 

Field Marshal Lord Roberts, who was selected to supersede 
General Buller as Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, had long 
been the idol of the British army. He is popularly known as 
" Bobs." His deeds and career have furnished a theme for many a 
stirring and patriotic verse, notably by Rudyard Kipling. Lord 
Roberts is regarded by the military authorities of the leading coun- 
tries of Europe as the foremost British commander of the Victorian 
era, his celebrated forced march to Kandahar constituting one of 
the finest feats of English arms in modern times. He is a pigmy 
as regards size, and is famed for modesty and for his entire absence 
of self-assertiveness, bombast or false pride. He won his Victorian 
Cross as a young lieutenant during the Indian mutiny in a hand-to- 
hand fight at Khodadunge. 

Frederick Sleigh Roberts is the son of the late Sir Abraham 
Roberts, G. C. B., and was born in 1832. He was educated at 
Eton and Sandhurst. He entered the Bengal Artillery at the age 
of nineteen, and in 1852 he was posted as a lieutenant with a moun- 
tain battery at Peshawur, India. During the following eight years 
he performed conspicuous service in the numerous campaigns, 
being invalided to England in 1858. He returned to India in i860 
and found himself a captain and brevet major for distinguished 
services, and attached to the staff of army headquarters as assist- 
ant quartermaster-general in charge of the commander-in-chief's 
camp. He continued to perform the work intrusted to him in such 
exceptional manner and with so much coolness and courage that in 



470 GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 

1867 he was promoted to be a lieutenant-colonel with the command 
of a battalion of the Royal Horse Artillery. In 1875 ^^ obtained 
the qualifying promotion to colonel and was nominated to the per- 
manent appointment of quartermaster-general with the local rank 
of major-general. Such was the result of a career of twenty-four 
years' hard head work and fighting, whenever or wherever a fight 
was to be had by an Indian officer. In 1878 he became a major- 
general of the army, being appointed to the command of the Punjab 
force, the lancehead of the armament of India. 

The Hero of Kandahar. 

On November 11, 1879, he was placed in command of all the 
forces in Eastern Afghanistan, from Cabul to Jamrud. The general 
uprising of the Afghan forces soon afterward, their nine days* in- 
vestment of Cabul, and the frustration of their assault by an 
English counter attack on December 23, 1879, formed one of the 
most instructive episodes in the history of Indian warfare. 

On hearing of the disaster of the Bombay troops at Maiwand, 
the following July, General Roberts at once telegraphed to Simla 
urging that an expedition should start at once from Cabul to re- 
lieve Kandahar and restore confidence. His gallant force of 10,000 
men departed from Cabul on August 9, 1880, and at once plunged 
into regions beyond the reach of news. England was kept in 
breathless anxiety until Roberts re-emerged from the wilds, on 
August 31, at Kandahar. He broke up the entire Afghan army the 
following day, thus causing the English nation to realize that in 
Frederick Roberts it had found a new hero. 

Roberts was rewarded by the commandership-in-chief of the 
Madras army and with the special thanks of Parliament. He was 
also advanced to the Order of the Red Cross of the Bath. He was 
invalided by a severe malady and arrived in England in the fall of 
1880, where he was received with an immense popular acclamation. 
The Queen summoned him to Windsor Castle. London conferred 
upon him the freedom of the city, Oxford its degree of D. C. L. and 
Dublin its LL. D. The great civic companies — the Fishmongers, 
the Tailors and the Grocers — immediately made him a member. 



GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 47 1 

while various learned bodies and clubs elected him In their honorary 
fashions. Important banquets were given to him at Liverpool, 
Bristol and Dublin. 

The festivities in his honor were cut short in 1881 by the news 
of Majuba Hill. He was immediately appointed Governor of Natal, 
with the command of the troops In South Africa. However, peace 
was concluded while he was on the voyage to the Cape of Good 
Hope, and he was recalled immediately upon his arrival, and soon 
after received a baronetcy. 

In 1885 he was elevated to the chief command of all the forces 
in India. He held this post until 1893, when he was succeeded by 
General White. He was then raised to the peerage as Lord 
Roberts of Kandahar, and put In command of late of the forces in 
Ireland. He is looked upon as the most popular of England's war- 
scarred veterans, and it is doubtful if even Kitchener enjoys a more 
idolatrous devotion of the British soldier than Lord Roberts. 

Lord Kitchener. 

Lord Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall was England's latest 
and most popular war hero. His successful conquest of the 
Egyptian Soudan won for him a fame in England to be compared 
with that of Admiral Dewey in this country. In return for the 
services General Kitchener rendered his country in Egypt he was 
raised to the peerage and was voted a gift of ^150,000 by the House 
of Commons. His visit to England was the occasion of a series of 
brilliant celebrations in his honor. At the time his engagements 
during his stay of a little over a month were summed up by an 
English paper as follows : 

He has dined with the Queen both at Balmoral and at Windsor. 
He has been presented with the freedom of the City of London, of 
Cambridge, of Edinburgh, of Cardiff and of the Fishmongers' 
Company, and has received addresses from Dover, Chatham, 
Brompton and Bath, besides an Aldermanic reception at Windsor 
Station. Both the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh have 
conferred an LL. D. upon him, Many banquets, dinners and lunch- 
eons have been given in his honor, among the principal being those 



47^ GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 

given by the Lord Mayor of London, the Lord Provost of Edin- 
burgh, the Mayors of Dover and Cardiff, the Fishmongers' Com- 
pany, the officers of the Royal Artillery, Woolwich ; the Army and 
Navy Club, the East Anglian Society, the Royal Engineers, Chatham; 
the Savage Club, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, Christ's Col- 
lege, Cambridge, and the Drury Lane Lodge of Free Masons. He 
has also been the guest of the Prince and Princess of Wales, of 
Prince and Princess Christian, of Lord Salisbury and of Lord Rose- 
bery. He has besides attended various meetings in the city regard- 
ing the Gordon Memorial College, has been to Netley Hospital and 
has distributed Soudan medals. 

Winning- His Way. 

Horatio Herbert Kitchener was born in 185 1. He obtained his 
commission as lieutenant in 1871 as an officer of engineers. During 
the next twelve years he did not gain any great reputation for bril- 
liancy, for they were spent in civil employment. In 1874 he joined 
the survey of Western Palestine under Major Condor. After the 
attack on the party at Safed, in 1875, he returned to England, and 
until 1877 was engaged in laying down the Palestine Exploration 
Fund's map. Returning to the Holy Land in 1877, he executed the 
whole of the survey of Galilee. In 1878 he was sent to Cyprus to 
organize the courts. He was next appointed Vice-Consul at Erze- 
roum, and subsequently made a survey of the entire island of 
Cyprus. On his promotion to a captain's rank, in 1883, he had the 
good fortune to take service in Egypt under Sir Evelyn Wood, who 
as Sirdar was then reorganizing the Fellahin army. There his 
capacity for hard work, together with his eagerness to accept respon- 
sibility, found recognition. 

He received an appointment on the intelligence staff when the 
troubles of the Soudan made necessary the dispatch of trustworthy 
English officers to Dongola in advance of Lord Wolseley's Nile 
expedition fifteen years ago. There Kitchener was always the one 
selected for any work that demanded great force of character, com- 
bined with tact and resourcefulness in dealing with intrigues of dis- 
loyal officials or winning over the chiefs who wavered betv/een fear 



GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 473 

of Egyptian power and a hankering after the good things promised 
by Mahdism. 

The March to Khartoum. 

With the Nile expedition Kitchener's promotion was rapid. He 
became one of the two majors of cavalry in 1884, was made lieu- 
tenant-colonel in 1885 3-^<^ became colonel in 1888. He was deputy 
assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general in the expedition. He 
was in command of a brigade of the Egyptian army in the opera- 
tions near Suakim in December, 1888, and was present in the 
engagements at Gemaizah and at Toski, in 1889. 

At the beginning of the last campaign he was made Sirdar, or 
commander-in-chief, of the Egyptian army. 

The British cabinet, when it placed Kitchener in command in 
Egypt and reinforced his troops from India and England in 1895, 
evidently knew the man in whom it placed the execution of its plans. 
The Sirdar was slow and deliberate, but he was sure. After the 
recapture of Dongola, in the summer of 1896, Kitchener became, 
with a K. C. B., Major-General on the British list. In the end, by 
reoccupying town after town and winning battle after battle, he 
annihilated the best troops of the Khalifa and scattered them broad- 
cast as fugitives in the desert. 

Macdonald. 

Major-General Hector Macdonald's appointment was one of 
exceptional interest, since the gallant Highlander, quite apart from 
the high and conspicuous merits which qualified him for the post, 
was ordered to a scene which was closely associated with his roman- 
tic career in the army. When a sergeant in the Gordon High- 
landers, General Macdonald was one of the non-commissioned 
officers in charge of the detachment which took part in the fight on 
Majuba Hill. There he was taken prisoner by the Boers. One of 
the most picturesque episodes related of his brilliant career bears 
upon the personal valor he displayed against General Joubert's men. 
So impressed were the Boers with the dash and pluck of the High- 
lander in the fight, that General Joubert decided, as a mark of their 
admiration, to return him his sword, which, like the others taken 



474 GREAT BRITAIN ROUSED TO ACTION. 

prisoner, Macdonald had been compelled to give up. Some diffi- 
culty was experienced in discovering the sergeant's property, and it 
says a good deal for Joubert's genuine appreciation of gallantry 
that he offered a large sum of money as a reward for finding the 
sword. Alone of those taken prisoners after the disastrous struggle 
on Majuba, Macdonald had the distinction of receiving from the 
hands of the enemy the sword he had been compelled to surrender. 
This tribute to the soldierly qualities of ''Fighting Mac" may 
serve to remind the public of the romantic career of the general. 
Originally a Highland peasant, his first employment was as ostler's 
boy. He next became an assistant in a draper's shop in Aberdeen. 
In 1880 he enlisted. From the Afghan war up to the reconquest of 
the Soudan his career in the army has been one splendid record of 
grit, brains, and pluck. Repeatedly mentioned in dispatches, he 
obtained his commission, and from that moment he has advanced 
rapidly in the noblest profession in the world. So far the crowning 
success in his career was the part he played in the battle of Omdur- 
man. '' Beyond all else," wrote Mr. Bennett Burleigh, in his 
description of the battle, in the ''Daily Telegraph," "the double 
honors of the day had been won by Colonel Macdonald and his 
Khedivial brigade. He has proved himself a tactician and a soldier, 
as well as what he has long been known — the bravest of the brave. 
If the public want a hero, here they have one." The public bore 
this recommendation in mind, for one of the most interesting of the 
social events which followed the triumphant return of Lord Kitchener 
and his men was the banquet at which Macdonald's brother High- 
landers entertained him, and the sword of honor he then received. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



After the Week of Disaster— On the Road to Kim berley— Baden- 
Powell's Proclamation— Sortie From Mafeking— After the Battle 
—Surrender of Kuruman— Operations at Dordrecht— General 
French's Victory— Another Boer Repulse— Pilcher's Raid- 
Colonial Troops in Action — Accuracy of Gun Fire — 
Winston Spencer Churchill's Escape— Boer Aggres- 
siveness— Delagoa Bay— Stopping German Ships. 



AFTER the week of triple disaster a period of quiet followed. 
The British waited for reinforcements, if not for the coming of 
Lord Roberts and his comrades, who were expected to reach 
Cape Town about January loth. The Boers busied them- 
selves with fortifying their positions on the Tugela and Modder 
rivers, and preparing to oppose any renewal of the British advance. 

General Buller called into Natal every battalion and battery 
upon which he could lay his hands, and stiffened his force in every 
way practicable for a supreme attempt to break through the Boer 
line of defense and relieve Ladysmith. The Boers facing him on 
the other bank of the Tugela River established themselves in a 
fortified and entrenched position, sixteen miles in length, with relays 
of horses behind it by which the forces could be rapidly concentrated 
at any point that might be strongly attacked. This position was 
one of extraordinary strength, with high hills lined tier on tier with 
trenches and galleries, rising from an almost unfordable river, and 
with a smooth plain in front. 

The Boers had all the ranges marked, and many powerful guns 
dominated the various points of the river, while the drifts were com- 
manded by converging musketry fire from probably twelve thousand 
Boers. There were sixteen miles of wild, broken country before reach- 
ing Ladysmith. 

On the Road to Kimberley. 

Equally effective work was done by the Boers on the Modder 
River, or just north of it, to block General Methuen's advance 

(475) 



476 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER, 

toward Kimberley. At the beginning of January Lord Methuen's 
cavalry scouting developed the fact that the Boer intrenchments ex- 
tended some forty miles, far overlapping the British positions and 
making a flank attack exceedingly difficult. At the same time the 
defenses of Kimberley itself were greatly strengthened, no less than 
seventeen miles of intrenchments encircling the town. 

Baden-Poweli's Proclamation. 

Up at Mafeking, Colonel Baden-Powell and his little band — 
among them a son of the British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury — 
held out, cheerfully and defiantly. Learning that the Boers were 
spreading reports calculated to lead the people of the surrounding 
country to revolt against the British, Colonel Baden-Powell issued 
to them the following proclamation : 

'*To the Burghers under arms round Mafeking : 

"Burghers — I address you in this manner because I have only 
recently learned how you have been intentionally kept in the dark 
by your officers, the Government, and the newspapers as to what is 
happening in other parts of South Africa. As the officer command- 
ing her Majesty's troops on this border, I think it right to point out 
clearly the inevitable result of your remaining longer under arms 
against Great Britain. You are aware that the present war was 
caused by the invasion of British territory by your forces without 
justifiable reasons. Your leaders do not tell you that so far your 
forces have only met the advanced guard of the British forces. The 
circumstances have changed within the last week. The main body 
of the British are now daily arriving by thousands from England, 
Canada, India and Australia, and are about to advance through the 
country. In a short time the Republic will be in the hands of the 
English, and no sacrifice of life on your part can stop it. The ques- 
tion now that you have to put to yourselves, before it is too late, is: 
Is it worth while losing your lives in a vain attempt to stop the in- 
vasion or take a town beyond your borders, which, if taken, will be 
of no use to you ? 

" I may tell you that Mafeking cannot be taken by sitting down 
and looking at it, for we have ample supplies for several months. 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 477 

The Staats Artillery has done very little damage, and we are now 
protected both by troops and mines. Your presence here and else- 
^\here under arms cannot stop the British advancing through your 
country. Your leaders and newspapers are also trying to make you 
believe that some foreign combination or Power is likely to intervene 
in your behalf against England. It is not in keeping with their 
pretence that your side is going to be victorious, nor in accordance 
with facts. The Republic having declared war, and taken the offen- 
sive, cannot claim intervention on their behalf The German Em- 
peror is at present in England, and fully sympathizes with us. The 
American Government has warned others of its intention to side 
with England should any power intervene. France has large inter- 
ests is the goldfields, identical with those of England. Italy is en- 
tirely in accord with us. Russia has no cause to interfere. The 
war is of one Government against another, and not of a people 
against another people. The duty assigned to my troops is to sit 
still here until the proper time arrives, and then to fight and kill 
until you give in. You, on the other hand, have other interests to 
think of — your families, farms and their safety. Your leaders have 
caused the destruction of farms, and have fired on women and chil- 
dren. Our men are becoming hard to restrain in consequence. 
They have also caused the invasion of Kaffir territory, looting their 
cattle, and have thus induced them to rise and invade your country 
and kill your burghers. As one white man to another, I warned 
General Cronje, on November 14th, that this would occur. Yes- 
terday I heard that more Kaffirs were rising. I have warned Gen- 
eral Snyman accordingly. Great bloodshed and destruction of 
farms threaten you on all sides. 

'' I wish to offer you a chance of avoiding it. My advice to you 
is to return to your homes without delay and remain peaceful till 
the war is over. Those who do this before the 13th will, as far as 
possible, be protected, as regards yourselves, your families and 
property, from confiscation, looting and other penalties, to which 
those remaining under arms will be subjected when the invasion 
takes place. Secret agents will communicate to me the names of 



478 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 

those who do. Those who do not avail themselves of the terms 
now offered may be sure that their property will be confiscated when 
the troops arrive. Each man must be prepared to hand over a rifle 
and 150 rounds of ammunition. The above terms do not apply to 
officers and members of the Staats Artillery, who may surrender as 
prisoners of war at any time, nor to rebels on British territory. 

"It is probable that my forces will shortly take the offensive. 
To those who, after this warning, defer their submission till too late, 
I can offer no promise. They will have only themselves to blame 
for injury to and loss of property. They and their families may 
afterwards suffer. 

(Signed) ** R. S. S. Baden-Powell, Colonel. 

"Mafeking, Dec. 10." 

Sortie from Mafeking. 

The plucky Colonel was not able to make good his words, 
though he strove hard to do so. On December 26th, in the early 
dawn, he made a fierce but unsuccessful sortie from Mafeking 
against the Boers at Gametree, two miles away. During the night 
the armored train, with Maxim and Hotchkiss guns, under Captain 
Williams and troops, took up positions for attack from two sides. 
Captain Lord Charles Bentinck and a squadron were in reserve 
upon the left, while the extreme left wing was occupied by artillery 
under Major Panzera and a Maxim of the Cape Police, the whole 
being under Colonel Hore. 

" Emplacements were thrown up during the night, the orders 
being to attack at dawn and the artillery fire to desist upon pro- 
longed tooting from the armored train. At daybreak," says our 
correspondent, who was with the British troops, "the guns opened 
fire and rapidly drew the reply of the enemy, our shells bursting 
within effective range. Captain Vernon gave the signal to cease 
firing and to advance, his squadron leading off. 

"As our men engaged the position with their rifle fire, it was 
soon found that the strength of the fort was greater than we had 
supposed. The enemy concentrated such an exceedingly hot fire 
that the advance of Captain Vernon was almost impossible, but with 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 479 

remarkable heroism and gallantry, Captains Sanford and Vernon, 
Lieutenant Paton and Scout Cooke, who guided the squadron, and 
a few men actually reached the sand-bags of the fort, within 300 
yards of the area of the fort. 

*' But nothing could exist there, since the ground was swept by 
Mauser and Martini bullets. The men who charged through this 
zone of fire suffered terribly, and in following their officers to cap- 
ture the fort, twenty men lost their lives. Captain Sanford was the 
first to fall, and Captain Vernon, already twice wounded, and Lieu- 
tenant Paton were killed at the foot of the fort. These two officers, 
climbing a ditch which surrounded the fort, thrust their revolvers 
through the enemy's loopholes, only to be shot themselves the next 
moment. 

" Gametree Is surrounded with scrub, which contained many 
sharpshooters, and their accuracy of fire still further confused the 
men who had followed Captain Vernon and who saw him and his 
brother officers killed. Being withoutcommanders, they were driven 
off at one point, but they endeavored to scale the fort at others. 
They found the position of the Boers, however, almost impregnable. 

"When we retired under cover of the armored train so many 
men had been wounded that a suspension of hostilities occurred 
under the auspices of the Red Cross. The veldt around the Boer 
position was at once dotted with flags of mercy, and it was seen that 
our wounded were scattered within but a short radius of the fort. 
We had almost completely surrounded it, and, had it not been so 
extraordinarily well protected, we should have been in possession. 

After the Battle. 

" 1 went with an ambulance to Gametree. The fort itself Is 
circular, with a wire interior and a narrow frontage, between six and 
seven feet high, pierced with triple tiers of loopholes, and surrounded 
by a ditch. 

"I was permitted to assist in dressing the wounds, a majority 
of which appeared to have been caused by explosive bullets, the 
point of entry being small, but the area of injury covering a wide 
region. While the wounded were being attended to, numbers of 



480 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 

Boers left their intrenchments and gathered round. At the conclu- 
sion of the dressing, I spoke to several tattered and dirty, but 
physically fine, men. Many of them were undersized, and all wore 
beards. They referred me to the Field Cornet, who denied the use of 
explosive bullets. On being shown the horrible wounds, he ad- 
mitted that at one time explosive bullets had been served out, but 
he said he was certain they had all been previously expended and 
that none could have been used on this occasion. He then produced 
a bandolier filled with dum-dums, and I pointed out that, so far as 
Mafeking was concerned, these had been recalled. 

''Later on I called the attention of the Field Cornet to four of 
his own men, who were rifling dead bodies. He expressed his 
regret to a British officer that, despite his instructions to respect the 
dead, the younger Boers were beyond his control, and he accused 
the British soldiers of stripping General Koch and leaving him 
naked and wounded on the field, thus indirectly causing his death." 

The correspondent then describes a scene of angry recrimina- 
tions between the Field Cornet and the Boers regarding the exist- 
ence of orders about robbing the dead, and also about the facts 
themselves, some of the Boers asserting that they only took arms, 
despite the arrival at that very moment of the bodies of fivQ British, 
under Boer escort, with the pockets of their uniforms turned inside 
out. He goes on to say : 

"Some of the British wounded flatly accused the Boers of 
stealing their money, rings and other valuables. We had great 
difficulty in getting permissioa to use the armored train to remove 
our wounded. We believe that spies carried the news of our con- 
templated sortie to the Boers. The Field Cornet admitted that he 
was reinforced during the night by 100 mounted men, and acknowl- 
edged withdrawing his guns." 

Surrender of Kuruman. 

On New Year's Day the little village of Kuruman, in Bechuana- 
land, which had bravely held out for two months against overwhelm- 
ing forces of Boers, was compelled to surrender. About 1 20 British 
were taken prisoners by the Boers, 




A riilitary Balloon. 




^^•' 



^ SSL, 




r* 



P f 





British flounted Infantry in Action. 








■BV«5Si!iaasS2U.i.ri»H,aftii5taS»^ 




British riountain Artillery. 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 48 1 

Operations at Dordrecht. 

As the first of the three disasters to the British line of advance 
occurred at the centre, under General Gatacre, at Stormberg, it was 
fitting that the first attempt to retrieve them should be made in the 
same quarter. The first was a mere skirmish, near Dordrecht. 
Captain Montmorency's sortie with a patrol of one hundred and 
twenty men of the 21st Lancers, and his retreat, on December 30, 
were followed up the next day by a successful British engagement. 

Under Captain Goldsworthy, a force of one hundred and ten 
men, with four guns, accompanied by Captain Montmorency's scouts, 
sallied out of Dordrecht during the morning of December 31 to re- 
lieve Lieutenant Turner and twenty-seven men left overnight at 
Laonschagnes Nek. The Boers were driven back and Lieutenant 
Turner's party was rescued. Eight Boers and thirteen horses are 
known to have been killed. 

Captain Montmorency's scouts were cut off owing to their re- 
fusal to leave a wounded officer, Lieutenant Warren, of Brabant's 
Horse. These men, under Lieutenants Milford and Turner, of the 
Frontier Mounted Rifles, defended themselves most gallantly against 
the repeated attacks of some 800 Boers. The enemy resorted to 
trickery during the night, but were repulsed with loss. 

At 5.15 o'clock next morning Captain Goldsworthy, with the 
Cape Mounted Rifles, arrived, and the Boers immediately fled to the 
hills. Turner's party, whose horses had nearly all been killed, were 
rescued. They displayed splendid pluck, and the brilliant manner 
in which Captain Goldsworthy effected their relief on his own respon- 
sibility is deserving of the highest praise. The British loss was two 
men wounded. The Boers lost about thirty men, including eight 
men killed. 

This little movement was on the whole satisfactory to the Brit- 
ish, but a still more gratifying one was close at hand ; indeed, it 
began before this one was ended. 

General French's Victory. 

The first day of the New Year was marked with a British vic- 
tory, small in magnitude, but significant and encouraging to the 

31 



482 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 

British army and nation. It was effected by General French, the 
victor of Elandslaagte, with a small force, over a much larger force 
of Boers, at Colesberg, in Cape Colony, near the Orange River. 
His own modest report of the battle was as follows : 

''Leaving at Rensburg, holding the enemy in front, with half of 
the I St Suffolks and a section of the Royal Horse Artillery, I started 
thence at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, December 31, taking with me 
five squadrons of cavalry, half of the 2d Berks and 80 mounted 
infantry, carried in wagons, and ten guns. I halted for four hours 
at Maider's Farm, and at 3.30 this morning occupied the kopje over- 
looking and westward of Colesberg. The enemy's outposts were 
taken completely by surprise. At daylight we shelled the laager 
and enfiladed the right of the enemy's position. The artillery fire in 
reply was very hot from a 15-pounder using Royal laboratory am- 
munition, and other guns. We silenced the guns on the enemy's 
right flank, demonstrating with cavalry and guns to the north of 
Colesberg toward the junction, where a strong laager of the enemy 
was holding a hill, and a position south-east of Colesberg, as far as 
the junction. Our position cuts the line of retreat via the road and 
ridge. Some thousand Boers, with two guns, are reported to be 
retiring toward Norval's Pont. All Remington's scouts proceeded 
toward Achterland yesterday morning. Slight casualties. About 
three killed and few wounded." 

The British losses were three men killed and seven wounded. 
No officers were killed or wounded. The Boers are supposed to 
have suffered heavily from the accuracy of the British artillery fire. 
General French's statement that the Boers were using a 15-pounder 
and Woolwich ammunition evidently refers to one of the British 
guns captured at Stromberg. 

The Boer strength in the engagement with General French was 
estimated at from five thousand to seven thousand men. 

Another Boer Repulse. 

The Boers unexpectedly attacked the British left at daybreak 
on January 4, but were repulsed. They occupied hills to the north 
of the town, but were eventually driven out of their positions after 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 483 

an hour's shelling by the British guns. They still held, however, the 
hills immediately surrounding the town, preventing the British from 
advancing along the railway. 

The British loss in this last engagement was light, while the 
Boers are reported to have lost one hundred, including twenty pris- 
oners who were taken by the mounted infantry about midday. 

The Boer attackers numbered a thousand men. The Inniskil- 
len Dragoons cut their way through the Boers, who were forced to 
retreat by a heavy artillery and musketry fire. 

Pilcher's Raid. 

The second of the three disasters was the repulse of General 
Methuen's advance, at Magersfontein, and in turn the second move- 
ment to retrieve it was made by a detachment of his army. On Jan- 
uary I Colonel Pilcher reported : 

'*I have completely defeated a hostile command at Sunnyside 
laager this day, January i, taking the laager and forty prisoners, 
besides the killed and wounded. Our casualties are two privates 
killed and Lieutenant Adie wounded. Am encamped at Dover 
Farm, twenty miles northwest of Belmont and ten from Sunnyside." 

Colonial Troops in Action. 

Another dispatch, from Dover Farm, dated January i, says: 
•'The colonial troops who have been longing to be allowed to 
meet the Boers, have at last had an opportunity to do so, and scored 
a brilliant success. The raid conducted by Colonel Pilcher was dif- 
ficult, owing to the fact that the movements of the troops were immedi- 
ately communicated to the Boers by natives. In order to prevent 
this, Colonel Pilcher, in making his forced march from Belmont, left 
a British trooper at every farmhouse, with instructions not to allow 
the natives to leave their huts, the patrols calling the names of the 
natives hourly in order to prevent their escape. 

*Tn the manoeuvre at Cook's Farm Colonel Pilcher sent 
mounted patrols east. One of these, consisting of four men, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Adie, suddenly encountered fourteen Boers, 
who opened fire. The lieutenant was severely wounded, and Private 



484 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 

Butler gave up his horse in order to carry the Heutenant out of 
range. 

Accuracy of Gun Fire. 

** Meanwhile Lieutenant Ryan, who had worked magnificently, 
reported that the veldt on the right of the enemy was clear, where- 
upon Major De Rougemont ordered the guns to a trot. They ar- 
rived within 1 500 yards of the laager, unlimbered and planted five 
shells in as many minutes within the laager. Immediately the enemy 
could be seen streaming over the kopje. They were completely 
surprised, but quickly opened a well-directed fire. 

''Orders were sent to the Toronto company to double-quick 
into action. The order was received with great satisfaction. The 
company rushed forward until within 1000 yards of the enemy's 
position, when it opened a hot fire upon the kopje and completely 
subdued the Boer fire. 

" The British artillery shelled the position with wonderful ac- 
curacy, while Lieutenant Ryan, with mounted infantry, worked 
round and completely uncovered the fire of the Boers, who had been 
ensconced in the bushes. 

** Meanwhile Colonel Pilcher, with the Queenslanders, taking 
advantage of every cover, made a direct attack, the Australians 
moving slowly but surely, and only shouting w^hen they saw the 
enemy retiring under their steady fire. The Queenslanders behaved 
with great coolness, laughing and chaffing even at the moment of 
greatest peril. 

*' During the advance the Boer fire suddenly ceased. Thirty- 
five Boers hoisted a white flag and surrendered. A portion of the 
Torontos moved across the front of the guns and entered the laager. 
The Boers had fled. Fourteen tents, three wagons, a great store of 
rifles, ammunition, forage, saddles and camp equipment, and numer- 
ous incriminating papers were captured. 

" The Boers lost six killed and twelve wounded. The Torontos 
stood the galling fire with admirable patience, never wasting a shot." 

The immediate result of Colonel Pilcher's success was the en- 
tire dispersal of the Boers who had been governing the country for 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 485 

the last six weeks. After Sunnyside was captured the Torontos 
occupied the laager for the night and joined the main body the fol- 
lowing morning, bringing the whole of the Boer tents, wagons and 
loot, and leaving the Cornwalls in garrison at Sunnyside. The Brit- 
ish force then started for Douglas, the Torontos bringing up the 
rear in wagons. In the afternoon the troops entered the town un- 
opposed and amid extraordinary scenes. The inhabitants were over- 
joyed, and crowded about the soldiers, shaking hands with them, 
and when they learned that their deliverers were Canadians and 
Australians the enthusiasm became frenzied. There were deafening 
cheers as the troops traversed the main street, and it was almost 
impossible for them to make progress, the crowds being so eager to 
shake hands with the Colonials. 

Winston Spencer Churchill's Escape. 

Mr. Winston Spencer Churchill, son of the late Lord Randolph 
Churchill, who had been serving as a newspaper correspondent, and 
had been captured by the Boers, succeeded in making his escape 
from Pretoria and rejoining his friends, in December. On Decem- 
ber 21 he sent to the London " Morning Post," from Lorenzo Mar- 
ques, Delagoa Bay, the following account of his adventures : 

"On the afternoon of December 12 the Transvaal's Secretary 
of War informed me that there was little chance of my release. I 
therefore resolved to escape, and the same night I left the State 
School's prison in Pretoria by climbing the wall when the sentries' 
backs were turned momentarily. I walked through the streets of the 
town without disguise, meeting many burghers, but was not chal- 
lenged in the crowd. I got through the pickets of the town guard, 
and struck the Delagoa Bay railroad. I walked along it, evading 
the watchers at the bridges and culverts, and waited for a train 
beyond the first station. The 11. 10 freight train from Pretoria had 
arrived before I reached the place and was moving at full speed. I 
boarded it with great difficulty and hid under coal sacks. I jumped 
from the train before dawn and was sheltered during the day in a 
small wood in company with a huge vulture, who displayed a lively 
interest in me. 



486 AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTER. 

" I walked on at dusk. There were no more trains that night. 
The danger of meeting the guards of the Hne continued, but I was 
obliged to follow it, as I had no compass or map. I had to make 
wide detours to avoid bridges, stations and huts, and so my progress 
was very slow. Chocolate is not a satisfying food. The outlook 
was gloomy, but I persevered, with God's help. For five days my 
food supply was very precarious. I was lying up by daylight and 
walking by night. 

'* Meanwhile my escape had been discovered and my description 
telegraphed everywhere. All trains were searched and every one 
was on the watch for me. Four times the wrong people were ar- 
rested. The sixth day I managed to board a train beyond Middle- 
burg, whence there was direct service to Delagoa. 

"In the evening I concealed myself in a railway truck under a 
great pile of sacks. I had a small store of good water. I remained 
hidden so, chancing discovery. The Boers searched the train at 
Komati Poort, but did not search deep enough. After sixty hours 
of misery I came safely here. I am very weak, but am free. I have 
lost many pounds in weight, but am light in heart. I shall avail 
myself of every opportunity henceforth to urge earnestly the un- 
flinching and uncompromising prosecution of the war." 

Boer Aggressiveness. 

The Boers were busy, too, with efforts to swell the ranks of 
their army with recruits from among the disaffected Dutch in Cape 
Colony and Natal. Early in January the President of the Orange 
Free State issued a proclamation declaring that every white man, 
irrespective of nationality, was to be considered a burgher, and was 
liable to be compelled to fight for the defense of the country. 

Ugly rumors were in circulation of a Dutch rising, with the 
object of seizing Cape Town and the docks and of capturing the 
Governor of Cape Colony, Sir Alfred Milner. The centre of the 
movement was said to be Paarl, a village about thirty miles from 
Cape Town, where a meeting of the Afrikander Bund was held. 
The colonial authorities of course used every precaution to prevent 
an insurrection on the part of the disloyal Dutch in Cape Colony 



I 



AFTER THE WEEK OF DISASTEP. 487 

and to suppress a rising if it should occur. Everywhere the British 
colonists were organized into home guards, drilled, armed and made 
ready to act in their respective localities should armed Dutch colo- 
nists gather. 

Delagroa Bay. 

From the beginning of the war the British were much annoyed 
by the constant shipment of arms, ammunition, supplies of all kinds, 
and even of mercenary troops, to the Boers by way of Delagoa Bay. 
That bay being Portuguese territory, and, therefore, neutral, it was 
difficult for the British to put a stop to this. Toward the close of 
the year, however, the British began to exercise pretty vigorously 
the right of searching all vessels bound to that port, and of seizing 
all contraband goods found on them. 

Among the first goods thus seized were several cargoes of flour, 
which had been shipped from the United States in British ships, for 
Delagoa Bay. It was contended by the British that, as it was to go 
on from Delagoa Bay to the Transvaal, the flour was contraband of 
war. This claim was not acquiesced in by the United States, and 
the United States Ambassador at London, Mr. Choate, made strong 
representations to the British Government upon this subject. Mr. 
Choate received no definite reply, the Premier informing him that 
the British Government had not yet arrived at any decision as to 
whether or not foodstuffs were contraband of war. But Lord Salis- 
bury assured Mr. Choate that the commercial rights of the United 
States would be equitably considered and that a decision in this im- 
portant matter would be reached as soon as possible, 

Stoppingr German Ships. 

The German steamships, plying from Europe through the Suez 
Canal and down the East Coast of Africa, were objects of British 
suspicion, and on December 29th one of them, the Bundesrath, 
was seized by a British cruiser and taken to Durban. It was said 
that she had on board cannon, ammunition and soldiers, bound for 
the Transvaal. A few days later the steamer General, of the same 
line, was stopped and searched at Aden, and several other German 
vessels were similarly treated. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



Boer Movement Against Ladysmith— The Boer Attack— The First 

Repulse— A Fight at Daybreak— On Wagon Hill— A Critical 

Position— The Final Charge— Buller's Co-operation— The 

British Advance— Crossing the Tugela. 



THE next important movement, following closely upon, indeed 
almost simultaneous with, those just recorded, was made by 
the Boers. Hearing- of the impending arrival of Lord Roberts, 
Lord Kitchener, General Macdonald, and large reinforce- 
ments for the British army, they determined to make one more 
desperate effort to capture Ladysmith before that place could be 
relieved. 

General Buller and all his army were at Frere and Chieveley, 
many miles south of Ladysmith. The bulk of the Boer army lay 
between him and Ladysmith, with headquarters at Colenso, and 
with from twenty to thirty miles of powerful fortifications along the 
Tugela River, which was now in flood. Thus while a portion of the 
Boer army faced south, to guard against any attempt of the British 
to cross the Tugela, the bulk of it, resting upon the same base, 
faced north and struck furiously at Ladysmith. More than 20,000 
Boers were available for the attack, while the garrison, under Sir 
George White, depleted by battle and disease, numbered less than 

half as many. 

The Boer Attack. 

The assault was made upon Ladysmith from the south, in the 
early morning of January 6th. The chief effort was made to cap- 
ture two positions, Caesar's Camp and Wagon Hill. The latter is a 
lofty eminence to the southwest, possession of which would have 
brought the Boers within rifle range of the town. Caesar's Camp 
was held by the ist Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. 

The position was separated from that of the Boers by a rocky 
ravine. In the early hours of the morning, under cover of darkness, 

(488) 







Boer Hounted Infantry Reconnoitering. 



BOER MOVEMENT AGAINST LADYSMITH. 489 

the Heidelberg commando succeeded in evading the British pickets, 
making their way through the thorn brush and reaching the foot of 
the slope at 2.30 o'clock. The alarm was raised by the British sen- 
tries, but before the full extent of the danger could be realized the 
outlying sangars had been rushed and their defenders slain. 

The First Repulse. 

On hearing the firing, two companies of the Gordon High- 
landers went to the assistance of the Manchesters. At first it was 
thought that the Boers were concentrating on the southern slope, 
where they had already secured a footing on the plateau. Here, 
however, their advance was checked by the steady volleys of the 
British infantry and the deadly fire of an automatic gun. 

Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe went out to see if any aid were needed 
by the troops stationed on the ridge near the town. He was not 
aware that the Boers had already captured the breastworks, and 
called out to the sergeant. He received the reply " Here I am, sir," 
and then he suddenly disappeared from sight. Captain Carnegie, 
suspecting a ruse, ordered the Gordons to fire a volley and to charge. 
The enemy thereupon fell back precipitately, leaving behind them 
the officer whom they had captured with so much presence of mind. 
The lieutenant was quite unhurt. 

A Fight at Daybreak, 

It was now evident that the camp was being assailed on the left 
flank and on the front. By daybreak reinforcements of Gordon 
Highlanders and of the rifle brigade had been hurried up the fight- 
ing line. Lieutenant-Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, who was leading 
the Gordons out of camp, fell mortally wounded, being hit by a stray 
bullet while still close to the town. The 53d Battery of Field Artil- 
lery, under Major Abdy, crossed the Klip River and shelled the 
ridge and reverse slope of the front position, where the Boers were 
lying among the thorn bushes. The shrapnel which flew over the 
British soldiers' heads did terrible execution. It effectually held the 
Boers in check and rendered it impossible for them to send rein- 
forcements to their men through the ravine. 



490 BOER MOVEMENT AGAINST LADYSMITH. 

The Boers fought throughout with the most stubborn courage, 
being evidently determined to take the camp or die in the attempt. 
Their 6-inch crun on Umbulwana Mountain and its smaller satellites 
threw more than a hundred shells at Abdy's battery and at the 
troops on the hill. The British troops, however, were not less gal- 
lant and resolved, and the Boers were pressed back step by step 
.until at leneth those who were left broke and fled in utter disorder. 

A terrific storm of rain and hail, accompanied by peals of thun- 
der, had burst over the camp during the fighting. This served to 
swell the streams into raging torrents. In their efforts to escape, 
numbers of the Boers flungf themselves into the current and were 
swept away. The struggle in this part of the field was now ended, 
and the finale was a terrific fusillade all along the line, the crash of 
which almost drowned the incessant thunder above. 

On Wagon Hill. 

Meanwhile, a more exciting contest was in progress in the direc- 
tion of Wagon Hill. At 2 o' clock a storming party of Boers, fur- 
nished by the Harrismith commando, crept slowly and cautiously 
along a donga in the valley which divided the British posts from their 
camp. A few well-aimed rifle-shots killed the pickets. Taking ad- 
vantage of every inch of cover, the Boers then gradually reached the 
crest of the heights. Here a body of Light Horse was posted, but 
they were forced to retire before the advance of the Free Staters, 
itl3>eTe being no breastworks for defense on the western shoulder of 
the hill. With little to impede their progress the Boers soon came 
to an emplacement, where they surprised working parties of the 
Gordon Highlanders and the 60th Rifles. 

Lieutenant Digby Jones, of the Royal Engineers, collecting a 
handful of men, made a gallant effort to hold the position, but the 
numbers were aeainst him, and after a stubborn resistance he was 
driven back and the Boers got possession of the summit. Even 
then, however, the Free Staters were afraid to venture far or to face 
the heavy fire from the sangar. Here it was that Lieutenant Mac- 
naughten and thirty of the Gordons were captured, although not 
until every man among them was wounded. 



BOER MOVEMENT AGAINST LADYSMITH. 49 1 

At 5 o'clock Colonel Edwards, with two squadrons of Light 
Horse, arrived upon the scene, and the 21st Battery of the Royal 
Field Artillery, under Major Hewitt, came into action, preventing 
the storming party being reinforced from the Boer camp. 

A Critical Position. 

At the same time the i8th Hussars and the 5th Lancers 
checked the movement from the spruit on the British right flank. 
Nevertheless, the British position at this point had become critical. 
The men had retired for cover behind the northern slope, while the 
Boers had made their way into the pass dividing them from the hill. 
Major Bowen rallied a few of the Rifles, but fell while leading 
them to the charge. His example was at once followed by Lieu- 
tenant Tod, but the latter met the same fate. 

The Boers were making good the footing they had already 
secured in the emplacement, when Major Miller Walnutt, calling 
the scattered Gordons together, charged in and drove them back. 
Having thus cleared the ground, he joined Lieutenant Digby Jones 
in a newly prepared emplacement on the western shoulder. 

A pause ensued for a time, but the Boers were not yet finally 
beaten. Taking advantage of the storm now raging, they essayed 
to capture the position by another rush. Three of their leaders 
reached the parapet, but were shot down by Lieutenant Digby Jones 
and Lieutenant Walnutt, the latter also falling. 

The renewed check effectually discouraged the assailants, and 
the deadly duel was now practically at an end. Nevertheless, small 
parties of the braver spirits kept up a murderous fire on the 
British from behind the rocks. 

The Final Charge. 

The moment had evidently arrived to strike the final blow, and 
Colonel Park quickly issued the necessary orders. Three compa- 
nies of Devonshires, led by Captain Lafone, Lieutenant Field and 
Lieutenant Masterson, made a brilliant charge across the open, 
under a terrific fire and fairly hurled the Boers down the hill at the 
point of the bayonet. In the course of the struggle Captain 



492 BOER MOVEMENT AGAINST LADYSMITH. 

Lafone and Lieutenant Field were killed and Lieutenant Masterson 
received no fewer than ten wounds. 

Buller's Co-operation. 

News of these operations was flashed by heliograph from 
Ladysmith to General Buller's camp at Chieveley. General Duller 
was not prepared to make a serious counter-attack upon the Boers, 
but he made a feint to do so, and thus compelled the Boers to hold 
back much of their army from the attack upon Ladysmith, to oppose 
him at the Tugela. He took advantage of the battle to push for- 
ward his scouts, familiarize himself with the country north of him, 
and prepare for an advance. The latter was not, however, to be 
made directly against the centre of the Boer lines, as before. It 
was to be a flanking movement, around one end of the Boer position. 
General Charles Warren was chosen to lead in this work. A strict 
censorship over all news dispatches was maintained, and for a week 
or more the world was kept in ignorance of what was going on. 
There were rumors of a British advance, now at the east, now at 
the west, but nothing was definitely known. Meantime, Lord 
Roberts and his aids arrived at Cape Town, and assumed direction 
of the campaign. 

The British Advance. 

The forward movement for the relief of Ladysmith began on 
Wednesday, January loth, from Frere and Chieveley. Lord Dun- 
donald's mounted brigade, with the Fifth Brigade, under General 
Hart, comprising the Dublins, the Connaughts, the Inniskillens and 
the Border Regiment, proceeded northwesterly to Springfield. The 
position had previously been thoroughly reconnoitred. 

A few miles outside of Frere, Lord Dundonald passed targets 
erected by the Boers, to represent a force advancing in skirmishing 
order. Evidently the Boers had been firing at these from adjacent 
hills. Lord Dundonald pushed on, and as the main column advanced 
he was informed that Springfield was not occupied by the Boers, and 
the Fifth Brigade had taken possession. The British transport ex- 
tended for several miles, and comprised some five thousand vehicles. 

The mounted brigade advanced rapidly, not meeting with any 



BOER MOVEMENT AGAINST LADYSMITH. 493 

Opposition. The British scouts had minutely searched all suspicious 
country, but there was no sign of the enemy. 

Crossing the Tugela. 

The Boers had been at Potgieter's Drift the previous day, but 
a body of South African Horse swam the stream under fire and 
brought over the pont from the Boers' side. 

The Boers were evidently suprised at the appearance of the 
British on the scene. A large camp could be seen on Tugela 
Heights, facing Mount Alice, but the enemy quickly struck camp 
and cleared off into the mountains. 

On Friday a loud explosion was heard. Subsequently it was 
found that the Boers had destroyed a bridge under construction 
seven miles above Potgieter's Drift. 

General Buller issued a spirited appeal and instructions to the 
forces, beginning: "We are going to the relief of our comrades in 
Ladysmith. There will be no turning back." 

General Lyttleton's brigade, with a howitzer battery, crossed the 
Tugela River at Potgieter's Drift on Tuesday, January i6th. The 
water rose above the waists of the men. The Boers fired two shots 
and then recalled their forces to the trenches. 

At about the same time General Warren executed a similar 
movement at Wagon Drift, six miles further west. He met with 
considerably more opposition than did Lord Dundonald. A hot and 
heavy fire was poured upon him by the Boers, from rifies and 
cannon. In the face of this he crossed the river, with comparatively 
little loss, and established himself in a strong position two miles 
north of the river. 

Thus the Tugela was safely crossed, and a strong British force 
was massed upon the west flank of the Boers. This flanking force 
consisted of about 14,000 men and forty cannons. General Buller 
himself was with it. At the same time the rest of his army, of 
about equal size and strength, remained facing the Boers' position 
at Colenso, ready to co-operate with the movement on the flank. 
Thus by the third week of January all seemed ready for the striking 
of a decisive blow. 



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